


Fairy Tale Memoirs

by noblecrescent



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, One Shot Collection, Romantic Friendship, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, TARDIS - Freeform, Whovian (Doctor Who), fairy tale, one shots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23138260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblecrescent/pseuds/noblecrescent
Summary: Collection of One-shots and AUs for Avalon Reynolds and the Doctor (of various incarnations). Companion story to 'Stars Dance' under my profile!
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/Ninth Doctor/Tenth Doctor/Twelfth Doctor/Original Character(s), Eleventh Doctor/Original Character(s), Eleventh Doctor/Original Female Character(s), Tenth Doctor/Original Character(s), Tenth Doctor/Original Female Character(s), The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Original Female Character(s), Thirteenth Doctor/Original Character(s), Thirteenth Doctor/Original Female Character(s), Twelfth Doctor/Original Character(s), Twelfth Doctor/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

There was too much to do and so little time! The Doctor raced around the console, her fingers dancing over the controls to punch in the right coordinates. The fam was waiting to get picked up from their brief interlude but of course the Doctor had gotten a bit distracted along the way. On the one hand, there was danger on a nearby galaxy that she just couldn't ignore. And then there was the fact that Avalon expected her to be back on Earth for Lena's birthday party.

"Oh wow..." the Doctor breathed when she remembered that she'd been tasked to bring Lena's present. "Oh no, no, no! Tell me I did not misplace it! Please tell me!" her hands curled into fists as she threw her head back, eyes shut. But soon her eyes opened up when a new thought had come across. "Or did she tell me that _she_ would bring it! Gah! I can't remember!"

The TARDIS hummed but the Doctor still felt no better.

"I have got to stop taking calls in the middle of a worldwide saving!"

"Alright, alright, let's just take a risk and see if Avalon has a present. After all...how could she be mad I forgot the present if I was saving another planet!" the Doctor came to a stop to consider the answer and when it wasn't all that nice, she resolved for a different solution. "I _do_ have a time traveling machine. I can just go back and get a present if I did forget it!" She landed the TARDIS at the cafe Avalon and Lena would be waiting for her. They would take Lena to wherever the party was going to be from there.

The Doctor came out of the TARDIS in a quick sprint towards the cafe. "Sorry I'm late!" she rushed into the building, waving a hand to catch Avalon's sight...but she found herself surrounded by odd stares from customers instead. The cafe seemed to be running like normal which, to be honest, kind of worried the Doctor off a bit. Even if the party wouldn't be at the cafe, Avalon would've made something for Lena there too. But there was nothing! People were buying things, taking their drinks at their tables, some of them were reading -- _hold on_.

The Doctor rubbed her eyes so hard that after she lowered her hands, she saw stars for a few minutes. When her vision was back, though, she still saw the same person. _It couldn't be_. 

_But she's right there._ The Doctor stared wide-eyed at the ginger woman sitting in the corner of the cafe, her hand fervently writing across her journal. Avalon Reynolds would always have her trusty journal nearby. If she wasn't writing in it, she had it in a bag around her. _How_... _?_

She was in the past. She had to be -- the Doctor had accidentally arrived at the cafe in the past, the past where a younger version of Avalon was.

 _She's so young,_ the Doctor took in a breath. She took a step towards Avalon without realizing it. It had just been too long since she'd seen the mess of ginger hair. It brought a huge grin to the Doctor's face. All the adventures they had, had in the past... _way_ in the past...it was all rushing back to the Doctor.

It widened her grin.

Avalon -- _this_ Avalon -- was still living it. She was living their story. Ah, such a wonderful story. Even if there was some turmoil in the middle, the Doctor wouldn't give it up for anything. Avalon, _her_ Avalon, wouldn't either.

 _I should really leave. I should turn back and go find my Avalon. She's probably getting mad if I'm not arriving at the right time! Go, just go!_ The Doctor took a step back, in that moment intending on making the full turn towards the entrance doors, but she bumped into another customer heading out and yelped when hot coffee landed on her shirt. "OW!" 

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the customer, a petite brunette woman, exclaimed. 

The commotion pulled several other customers' attention, including Avalon's. The ginger woman looked up from her journal to see the Doctor rapidly trying to pat dry her shirt from the freshly made coffee. The customer she bumped into was helplessly apologizing, offering to dry-clean the Doctor's shirt.

"No, it's fine! I'm fine! Happens to me all the time! I'm quite an idiot! I'm all over the place!" the Doctor waved the customer off and thanked a nearby man for the few napkins he handed her. "I do that all the time! Least that's what my Ava says!"

Avalon raised an eyebrow when she heard that last bit. She put her pen down and focused her entire attention on the blonde woman who kept rambling on like there was no tomorrow. Blimey she could _talk_. And she was fast too! There was no way in hell anybody, especially the frantic brunette, was understanding what the blonde was saying. 

And then it hit Avalon. 

"No fucking way," she whispered with wide, albeit fascinated, eyes. She rose from her chair and made her way towards the blonde woman. 

"Really, I'm fine. I'd pay you for the coffee--" the Doctor smiled apologetically at the brunette woman, "--but I never carry money with me." The poor customer was so rattled that she took the Doctor's words as a sign for her go before things could get worse.

"Doctor?" 

The Doctor froze in her spot. Maybe if she stayed completely still things might go her way. But she should've remembered who she was dealing with.

Avalon Reynolds didn't just let things happen if she didn't like them. She reached a hand for the Doctor's arm and once she touched the smooth fabric of the Doctor's gray coat, the Time Lady swallowed hard. Different Avalon, same touch. 

Avalon slowly turned the Doctor around and when they were face to face, the Doctor didn't know what to expect. This Avalon was _really_ young (not that she would ever call her Avalon old, _ever_ ) and she hadn't lived their story a lot. By the Doctor's calculations -- which honestly wasn't that much -- this Avalon could be somewhere between the time they met the underground Silurians all the way to just before the Silence. It was hard picking the right moment in her time line with so little information. 

But she was still _so_ beautiful. The Doctor couldn't help the blush that ran through her face. 

_Stop it!_ she berated herself. _This isn't your Avalon, not yet! Don't freak her out, you idiot!_

"Hello," the Doctor finally found her voice, still she did have to clear her throat in the end. "A-Avalon..."

Avalon's eyebrows raised upwards, her mouth opening slightly but nothing came out. She looked the Doctor over at least two times and the Doctor only lost count because she was trying to keep herself cool. She could be cool -- she would ignore the fam's opinions though because she didn't need that negativity right now.

And then Avalon finally spoke but like the Doctor, her words failed a bit in the beginning. " _Doctor_? It's...it's really _you_?"

"Uuh...yeah..." the Doctor cleared her throat again. "I-I shouldn't be here. I _really_ shouldn't be here. I-I got the time wrong."

"Ah, so it _is_ you," Avalon took that and the fact that she had mentioned she never carried money as a true confirmation that she was indeed the Doctor. "I can't believe it!" Avalon laughed. "You changed! And you're a woman!"

"Is that...are you good?" the Doctor asked, rather nervously because in her time Avalon was much more used to the implications of being a Time Lord. Everything could literally changed. This Avalon was still getting to know her version of the Doctor. Things had yet to be said and thoroughly explained.

"I'm laughing aren't I?" Avalon brought her hand to her chest as she sobered. Her eyes looked the Doctor over and she did a slight tilt of her head that made the Doctor blush. In the future, when Avalon did _that_ tilt, it meant she was basically checking her out. 

_This is not your Avalon!_ the Doctor hissed at herself. She had to stop thinking like that because she this wasn't a version of Avalon she could be like _that_ , not yet.

"I like it," Avalon said then suddenly blinked when she caught herself, "I meant, you know...you're looking nice. Good. You kept the suspenders?"

The Doctor quickly checked herself to remember if she was wearing suspenders. She was. "Right!"

Avalon laughed at her goofy grin. Yup, that was still the same too. "Well, I like the red ones but the yellow look nice too. So then...this is you? Like...the next you?"

"Aaah," the Doctor put her hands inside her coat's pocket, "Not-not quite."

"Oh, you've died twice?" Avalon asked, her face softening. How could she let her Doctor die twice? What was _she_ doing in those times?

"Do you want to sit down for a bit?" the Doctor asked her, presuming where Avalon's thoughts were going. She couldn't tell Avalon everything but she could tell bits to ease Avalon's concerns.

Avalon was initially confused since, according to time line rules and whatnot, she shouldn't be interacting with a future Doctor...unless she no longer traveled with the Doctor! "Oh my God, do we stop travelling!?" the question blurted from her mouth.

"Oh no, no! Don't worry about that," the Doctor exclaimed. "I was actually going to meet you here -- well," she bobbed her head, "I was supposed to meet the future you in a future version of this shop. I got the dates wrong."

"So...we're still traveling together?"

 _And more_ , the Doctor smiled. "Yes," she said, having to bite her tongue to leave it at that. "But I can spare a few moments here with you -- actually, I can always give you the time you need."

"O-okay," Avalon slowly turned away -- and as soon as she did she allowed herself to smile with a blush -- then slowly led the Doctor back to her table. She took her seat and watched the Doctor sit across her.

Actually, she studied the Doctor. She was Avalon's height now, which meant she had to have lost about four inches because the Doctor she knew was several inches taller than her. Her short blonde hair seemed straight but it also seemed a bit messy which made Avalon wonder where this Doctor had been to recently because it had to have been some adventure. Her eyes were still green but unlike her previous incarnation (or 2 incarnations ago, apparently) these eyes were a bit lighter on the shade and Avalon was sure she saw flecks of light brown around them. She still retained the same grin -- Avalon wondered if this was just a feature every Doctor had? -- and slim cheeks. Avalon thought her nose was a bit...button like? It was adorable. 

"I do have to ask..." Avalon's way of beginning the conversation led the Doctor down another nervous road, "...do you always pick weird clothes? Is that like...a requirement for every incarnation?"

The Doctor laughed. It definitely broke the ice between them. "Funny, you're so funny."

"Of course I am, but I'm also very serious," Avalon gestured to the Doctor's current clothes. "I'm digging the colors but the suspenders are questionable and the boots..." she checked under the table to give the brown combat boots another chance, "Nope, I don't like them."

The Doctor's face scrunched -- something else Avalon immediately deemed adorable -- with offence. "Other you does!"

"Then I would wonder if I've been replaced by a clone or something. I'll let the rainbow shirt pass because I really like those trousers and the coat. I think I like your coat -- can I steal it?"

"What? No," the Doctor tugged her coat closer to her as if Avalon would take it right there and then. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Because I'm trying this thing where I _ask_ people if I can use something of theirs before I take it."

"You mean _borrowing_?"

"Is that what it's called?"

The Doctor struggled not to laugh again. She forgot how this younger version was. "Oh boy."

"So that's a no...?" Avalon still waited for the answer but instead of getting one, the Doctor tapped the open pages of her journal on the table.

"You looked so focused when I came in. Writing a good story?"

"Uuh...not really. I mean, I just write," Avalon shrugged. "But you tell me now where you're from. And you said this you--" she pointed at the Doctor's face, "--isn't the you that comes after my Doctor. It's two incarnations later. So there's one in between I'm missing?"

"Ah yeah, he's kind a of broody one too," the Doctor bobbed her head as she thought of her previous incarnation. "I'm a bit more blunt..."

" _More_?" Avalon genuinely gawked. "How can you be _more_!?" The Doctor was always getting them into trouble because of what he said to people. She wasn't the best around people but he -- who had more than 900 years of social interactions -- knew far less. And now she was learning that the next him was even _more_ blunt? 

"Just you wait," the Doctor smiled nostalgically. "The people you've yet to meet...the adventures...it's all waiting for you."

Avalon smiled warmly. "You still like to travel with me, then? Didn't drop me off for being too rude? Or messing with you?"

"Leave my Ava behind? Never," the Doctor said on instinct but she didn't regret it when she saw Avalon's blush. "I told you I meant to find other you here. You don't get rid of me that easily."

"Well, tell me something about the future," Avalon leaned forwards on the table, biting her lip excitedly. "Tell me what we're doing in the future!"

The Doctor would've answered her in that moment but she got a little distracted with the lip biting. She was over 2000 years old and this girl who wasn't even 25 years old had her completely enthralled. 

"Doctor?" Avalon called.

The Doctor was following the way her lips were moving and when Avalon had to call her name a third time, she snapped out of it. "Sorry, what!?" Her face was pretty crimson right now.

"What were you thinking about?" Avalon asked since there was no hiding that type of blush.

"I-I don't...I have a...there's a l-lot going on in this head of mine!" the Doctor nervously tapped the side of her head. She was completely flustered and suddenly the only thing she wanted to do was go see _her_ Ava right now! _Right now_. 

"When isn't there?" laughed Avalon. "I wonder how many voices you got inside that head of yours. How old is this you right now?"

"Way old," the Doctor left it at that was and was super grateful that the conversation had moved along. "Now you tell me why you're here all by yourself? Did other me mess up or something? Are you mad at him?" she leaned forwards, leaving a bit of a gap between them since Avalon was still leaning herself. "Did he do something?"

Avalon took pleasure seeing her angered face. "No, not today anyways. I told him I wanted to come here for a moment to write. Plus, they make some really good croissants here. Bit of a French food lover. Or France lover. I just love it all."

"Yeah you do," the Doctor mumbled, once again growing a bit red in the face. She couldn't take this. She needed to go home quick. "Avalon, it was really nice seeing you...this version of you...but I should get going. I have other you waiting for me."

"Waiting, is that a still thing for me then?" Avalon once again bit her lower lip. "Am I still waiting for my fairy tale man -- girl -- to come get me?"

"Not...anymore," the Doctor answered in a rather shaky breath. She was staring at Avalon's lips despite her best efforts not to. "Sorry for those twelve years."

"Fourteen--"

"--right..."

"You still haven't told me what we're doing in the future," Avalon reminded, but she got an odd answer in return.

"Whatever you want..."

"What?"

"What!?" the Doctor shook her head really hard -- she might have seen stars again afterwards -- and then forced herself to look at Avalon's _eyes_. She could handle the eyes...hopefully. "Something we're doing in the future?" Avalon nodded her head. "Well, uh, we have this fam -- friends! They're, um, they're really nice and...and you like them."

"So no more Amy and Rory?" Avalon was a bit disappointed to learn that neither of her friends was still travelling with the Doctor, but at the same time she could see that happening in the later future. Amy and Rory would eventually want to settle down at some point. "I guess they're living on Earth now."

The Doctor forced herself to nod. That _was_ technically true, just not the way Avalon thought. This unintentionally indicated, though, that Avalon was somewhere after Amy and Rory got married and judging by Avalon's carefree demeanor it had to be _before_ the Silence and Kovarian struck.

"What are their names?" Avalon continued to ask, her excitement practically radiating from her face. "This, uh, _fam_ of yours."

"Ours," the Doctor corrected softly. "Ours."

Avalon nodded. "Okay."

"There's Yaz, you and her get along really nicely. She's a policewoman -- well, she's working on it."

"Wait I'm friends with a _cop_!?" Avalon gaped. "In all my space travels _that_ is the last thing I would've expected."

"Then there's Ryan and his granddad, Graham. You and Ryan are like siblings -- Lena says now _you_ have the 'brother' though the 'big brother' might be questionable. And Graham, well, you say he's like your grandfather too. A cool one too."

Avalon beamed. "That sounds so cool! I can't wait for that! Actually, I can't wait for all of it!"

"Don't wait, just live it," the Doctor advised, exhaling deeply as she studied Avalon's entire self. Things were still so new to her, she had no idea all the things she was going to live. It wouldn't all be nice and it wouldn't be happy sometimes, but things always got better in the end. "Just live your fairy tale, Avalon. And I -- other me -- will try to be the best fairy tale man for you."

"I think you are," Avalon nodded. "I mean, you listen to me when I demand things...like this morning. I sort of demanded to be brought here to write. You could've argued but you jut say 'yeah, okay'."

"I don't argue when it comes to your writing, dear. You are simply the best writer and I will always bring you to where you need to go and write."

"Right," Avalon looked down at her open journal. "I mostly ramble. I-I'm not that good."

The Doctor put a hand over Avalon's and let their intertwined hands rest over the open journal. "Avalon Reynolds, you are the _best_ writer I have ever met. Don't for a second doubt your talent. I always listen to your stories, I _read_ your stories...and every time you manage to surprise me. This journal is sacred because this is where it all started. So just keep writing, Ava. Always write. And I will always read them."

This time it was Avalon who gained a deep crimson blush on her face. She couldn't take the Doctor's intense gaze but she wasn't intimidated by her. She felt her heart swell that somebody had that type of belief in her writing. _Leave it to my fairy tale man_. She inwardly laughed. Did that still fit? Or had she changed it? Or did the Doctor even care?

"I have to go, Ava," the Doctor said when she finally let Avalon's hand go. "For real this time."

Avalon nodded, understanding that this couldn't last long for the sake of time lines. "Right. I guess...we can say 'see you later'?"

The Doctor agreed. "Yeah." She got up from her seat, prompting Avalon to do the same. "I'll see you later, Ava."

"See you later, Doctor." Avalon gave an awkward wave of her hand which she then scolded herself for. She brought her hand down and, feeling brave, she moved around the table and hugged the Doctor. It was done rather brashly which forced the Doctor back a few steps but once she had her balance, the Doctor hugged her back too. She hugged Avalon tightly and smiled against the curly mess of her ginger hair. This was her Ava, no matter what time she'd be in. 

Avalon felt this hug was no different than the hugs she would get from her version of the Doctor. She wondered how that worked through each incarnation. Would the next Doctor hug her the same too? She'd have to wait and see, she supposed.

The Doctor pulled away first and bopped Avalon's nose. "See you around my Ava. Try not to get into trouble."

Avalon smirked. " _You_ know what happens."

The Doctor did. "I do. And to this day we still do the heists."

"What?"

"Spoilers..." the Doctor shook her head. She had to go before she said something really big. "Goodbye, Avalon." She surprised Avalon with a kiss on the forehead, but it wasn't anything her Doctor didn't already do. The Doctor gave her a soft smile, using the moment to take Avalon's appearance one more time. That part of their story was over for her, but for Avalon it was just beginning. 

And then she turned to leave. She was a bit sad to go, yeah, but she was even more excited to get back to her Ava waiting for her in the future; the one that would understand her feelings.

Avalon watched the Doctor leave the shop and couldn't help feel a bit low spirited. That Doctor had so much knowledge of what was to come and there was just something about her that made Avalon...blush a bit more? Feel a bit different? Avalon blushed just remembering how close they'd been at the table, when they'd leaned forwards...

Control yourself dammit, Avalon blinked and turned back for her journal. _Or maybe one more chat wouldn't kill me..._ She stuffed her journal into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She dashed out of the shop but when she was out on the sidewalk, she couldn't see the Doctor anywhere. No matter how much Avalon looked, she just wasn't around anymore.

"Ava?"

Avalon spun around to see the Doctor coming towards, but not the Doctor that had just been with her. It was her version coming towards her, the one with the floppy hair, the red suspenders and the stupid bow-tie...that she also liked. He was _her_ Doctor. And that was just fine too. She sprinted to meet the Doctor halfway and threw her arms around him.

"O...kay..." the Doctor hugged her back, not expecting his return to be marked by such enthusiasm. "Is this because I was on time?"

Avalon laughed and pulled away only the necessary to look up at him. "No, I'm just happy."

"I can tell," the Doctor nodded and waved his finger over her grin. "Are the croissants that good?"

"Yeah, and, you know...it's a place to meet people..."

The Doctor's face immediately turned into a frown. "Who did you meet? I thought you were going to write? That's why I kept Amy and Rory in the TARDIS all this time with _no_ trips because I couldn't run the risk of coming back for you too late or something."

"I met...well...you," Avalon said with a chuckle. She was sure that just telling him a brief explanation wouldn't be bad for the time lines. "I met a future you."

"Seriously? What's another me doing here if they know that _you're_ here! Honestly, irresponsible," the Doctor shook his head.

"Oi, you leave her alone! She was wonderful!"

" _Her_?" the Doctor caught on fast and the look on his face was priceless.

"Yeah, and she scrunches her nose in this adorable way!" Avalon said just as she tried replicating said scrunched nose.

The Doctor laughed. "Ava, you can stop." But in reality he thought _she_ looked pretty adorable right now. 

"No, really, it was so cute! Gah! I can't get it, can I!?" 

"Why don't we go get some croissants? I'm thinking France or, if we want to go back to the original we could go to Austria!"

Avalon stopped her attempts to scrunch her face when she heard the revelation. "Croissants are from Austria, not France? What!?"

"I'll tell you the story on the way, c'mon," the Doctor pulled her in the direction of the TARDIS. "But, uh, this other Doctor you saw...it's important that you answer correctly. Was she...ginger?"

"No, she was blonde," Avalon grinned at the reminder of his future version. "But she was cute. I like her."

The Doctor was smug to hear her thoughts. He could gladly take that compliment. "Yeah?" he slipped an arm around her shoulders during their walk.

"Wipe that smirk off your face right now, fairy tale man," Avalon warned but she looked away to hide her blush. She truly hoped that in the future she had a better handle on the blushing problem. She couldn't help it sometimes! The Doctor was just too... _Doctor_!


	2. The Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little in-between fluff time with our lovely Ava & the 11th Doctor!

"Avalon!? Avalon!" the Doctor groaned as he called for the ginger's name in vain. He was taking the TARDIS corridors by storm, shouting for Avalon to come out from wherever she was. "Avalon! This isn't funny anymore! You need to rest!"

Never had he seen someone resist the orders to _rest_ more than Avalon, and that included _himself_. He hated staying still but after these past months with Avalon, the Doctor was sure she won. She was supposed to be taking it easy while she built up her immune system again but here she was playing games when she was meant to be resting in her room. Rory and Amy panicked thinking Avalon might be sleep walking but the Doctor knew exactly what she was doing: playing games. Now the Doctor was all for playing games but _not_ when Avalon's health was still frail.

"AVALON!" He roared down the hallway and not a second later did he hear something clang in a room. He panicked thinking she might have hurt herself. He ran into the open room, which turned out to be the wardrobe room, and felt himself relax when he spotted Avalon standing near a rack that had fallen to the floor."Oops," Avalon looked back at him with an apologetic smile. "I bumped into it."

The Doctor let his head hang as he exhaled. "You're going to kill me."

"It's fine, I'll pick it up and put the clothes back...geez," Avalon's eyes slightly widened at his dramatics.

"Not that!" the Doctor waved her off as he hurried up to her, stopping her from attempting to pick the clothing rack up. "You're supposed to be in your room, taking a nap!"

Avalon groaned and tugged her sleeping robe closer to her. "I don't want to! I think I finally got all of the sleepiness out of my system!"

"Yeah, you might think that but your body still needs to rest! C'mon!" He grabbed her arm but she refused and whacked him until he let her go.

"I said no!" she barked and turned away.

"What are you even doing here anyways?" he looked at the wardrobe room with weariness. This was one of Avalon's favorite rooms for the millions of clothes she could find, despite having half of it already stored in her bedroom closet.

"Playing dress up, what else?" Avalon gestured to her current pajamas underneath her sleeping robe. "Just because I don't get to go out doesn't mean I should wear pajamas nonstop."

"There's nothing wrong with it, you're a patient-"

"Nope! Shush!" she wagged a finger at him. "I'm sick of being a 'patient'! I need to do something else or I will explode! Plus-" she suddenly beamed and disappeared behind another rack of clothes, "-look at what I found!" She pulled out a sparkling, purple iridescent fishtail dress. "I'd look like a mermaid!"

The Doctor brought a hand to his weary face. She was going to kill him. "I think the meds are getting to you."

Avalon lowered the dress with a huff. "Say that again and I'll strangle you with this dress!"

"Ava, I _really_ need you to go back to your room and rest."

Avalon shook her head. "I seriously don't need it. Just let me have fun - ooh!" She bolted for a circular rack a few feet away from them.

"Avalon, you shouldn't run so much!" the Doctor went after her and after seeing what new pieces she found, he really contemplated throwing her over his shoulder to take her back to her room.

"Is this _yours_?" Avalon turned around with a familiar pinstriped jacket.

"Why?" the Doctor looked directly at the ceiling. Nothing in the TARDIS moved without her wanting it to. "Why would you show her that?"

Avalon giggled. "It _is_! It's the last you, right!? I remember the stories! You used to wear these!"

"Yeah, not my brightest ideas-"

Avalon snorted and gestured to his current attire. "And _that_ was?"

"Seriously?"

Avalon hummed as she went around the rack, stopping only a few seconds later. " _Oh_ , now this I _like_!" She had pulled out a black leather jacket and was holding it in front of the Doctor. "I can see this one!"

"Avalon..."

She came up to him and pressed the jacket to his body, imagining the version of him that wore it. The Doctor frowned at her when he realized where her thoughts were.

"Stop thinking about him!"

"He's you!" Avalon argued, not that it would matter to him. "You think you could wear this again? For scientific reasons of course."

"Really? And what would those be exactly?"

"...you'd look hot." She had said it so serious that despite the blush across his face, the Doctor had to laugh. "So what do you think? You want to test it out?"

"Okay, I think it's really time for you to go rest," the Doctor took the jacket from her hands and set it back in its place...only for Avalon to slip away to another rack. "Avalon!"

She hummed to ignore him. Her hands worked fast to search through more clothes, ignoring the Doctor's snaps for her to stop messing around. She really needed to take it easy and here she was...playing dress up.

"Oh! I remember this one!" Avalon suddenly said as she pulled a medium-length brown coat. "This is what you were wearing in Berlin! I loved this one!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her, although he didn't mind hearing her gush about him. She always poked fun at his tweed jacket and bowties, this was novelty. "Okay, thank you, but-"

"How come you only wore this once?" Avalon asked as she pulled the jacket off its hanger. "Actually, what made you change in the first place? You never want to give up your tweed jackets."

"I...Lena made me," the Doctor answered with a quietness that didn't go unnoticed.

Avalon lowered the coat and watched his gaze lower, like he was trying to keep something away. "When...when I was...missing...but why?"

"I _needed_ to find you, Ava, but Lena seemed to believe I wasn't taking care of myself."

Avalon could imagine what kind of mess he'd been in those months. If she knew him, and she firmly believed that she did, he'd thrown himself entirely into the search for her and Melody without a care about himself and his own health. "She made you change," Avalon sighed.

"Nap, shower, complete change...waste of time," the Doctor huffed. He loved his baby sister but all that time wasted could've gone into finding Avalon before Berlin happened.

"Hey, she did the right thing!" Avalon walked up to him and jabbed her finger into his chest. "I _never_ want you to disregard your own health for me, you got that?"

"Lena said you'd say that..."

"Because I would!"

"I needed to find you," the Doctor said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"I'm here now," Avalon gestured to herself before pressing his coat to his chest like she'd done with his leather jacket. "Yes, yes, I completely agree with this one."

"Ava," the Doctor rolled his eyes at her.

"Please promise me that you'll wear this again," Avalon leaned on his chest, putting on her best pout for him, "I _need_ to see you in it when I'm not all brainwashed."

"If I say 'yes' will you go back to bed?" Who was he kidding, he'd wear that thing every day if it made her think he was hot.

Avalon innocently looked around when she mumbled the 'okay'. Did she think he was _that_ stupid?

A few seconds later passed and suddenly Avalon was pulling off her robe. The Doctor dreaded what she was thinking of. Maybe the medication he was giving her truly was getting to her. But, before he could ask her what she was going to do, Avalon slipped his coat on and beamed at him.

"It fits!"

"It doesn't!" he mimicked her tone before laughing. She wasn't a petite woman but she certainly wasn't up to his height. She was four inches smaller than him which made all the difference. The sleeves of the coat went over her hands so she had to roll them up a bit. She was wearing pajama shorts so the coat really did look like a dress revealing her bare legs. But she did look _incredibly_ adorable.

"Like what you see?" Avalon interrupted his thoughts with a wide smirk.

He blinked and shook his head. "No! Yes! Wait - stop it!"

Avalon laughed and draped her arms over his shoulders. "You can tell me the truth. We _are_ dating so now you can tell me I look hot whenever you want."

"You are enjoying this moment _way_ too much, you know," the Doctor settled his hands on her hips. He looked her over again, much to her delight. "But yes, you do look hot. Well done Ava."

She beamed and kissed him in the same second. If this was how she would react every time, then he would definitely pay her more compliments like that. She brought her hands down to his chest while they continued to kiss and since the Doctor was _very_ in-tuned to it, he never felt one of her hands slipping under his jacket. It wasn't until she abruptly pulled away and brandished his sonic screwdriver at him that he realized she'd pulled one over him.

"A-Ava!" he blinked, gaping at her with a growing feeling of offence. "You tricked me!"

Avalon laughed. "Did not! I just got the idea at the last minute! Check it out, I'm _you_! I'm the Doctor! Ha!"

"Yeah right, give it back!" He tried taking it only for her to spin away from him. "Avalon!"

"You'll have to catch me for it!" She declared before taking off in a run.

The Doctor rubbed his face. "I can't believe I'm attracted to her," he mumbled...but after a few seconds hearing her laughter echoing in the hallways, he realized it _was_ the reason he liked her so much." She gave him such a different type of adrenaline that it was plain addicting. She challenged him and defied him, two things that made his body shudder in such a _good_ way.

He chased after her, just like he would always do.

"Gotta catch me!" Avalon kept singing as she ran down the corridors, although she knew her speed wasn't at its best. The Doctor was right, she couldn't run very well yet.

"Avalon Harmony Reynolds!" the Doctor shouted after her. She was admittedly putting up a good fight but he suspected that the TARDIS was aiding her granddaughter by shifting the corridors to keep him farther away.

" _Oooh_ , now he's mad!" Avalon laughed.

"Give me the sonic! You don't know how it works!"

"Wanna bet!?"

The Doctor would rather not. He wouldn't put it behind her to actually figure out the mechanics of the sonic just to defy him. Her mind did work quicker than humans and it saw things that others couldn't. Who knew, maybe ten minutes with the sonic and she would figure out all of its features.

"AVALON!"

Avalon came running into the console, completely out of breath but she couldn't stop laughing. It was too much fun! "He's coming! He's coming! He's coming!" she squealed as she came up the steps, ignoring the fact she nearly tripped on the last one. She barely made it to the console when the Doctor ran into the room.

"Enough running! You're tiring yourself out! Hand the sonic over!"

"Make me!" Avalon darted behind the console, only poking her head out to smirk at him.

"Oh, I _will_ ," he settled dark eyes on her, making her smirk widen.

"I look forwards to it!" She stepped away from the console to take a deep breath in. She did run just a smidge too much. The act was enough to remind the Doctor that she wasn't in any position to be playing these games. He needed to control himself and put an end to the game before she got hurt.

"Okay Ava, you've had your fun. Hand over the sonic," he calmly walked over to her while she backtracked to the staircase leading to the second floor. "Ava?"

She was still smirking despite the obvious pale shade of her face. "First, guess who I am." She took another deep breath then brandished the sonic at him. "Everyone stay still! I'm going to save the day!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "I don't say that."

"Yeah you do! Oh, and-" she tossed the sonic into the air, letting it twirl as it came back down, and swiftly caught it, "-gotcha!"

Okay, that sounded more like him. "Avalon..."

"Don't worry, I'm the Doctor! I'm packed with over confidence and this cool bowtie!" She winked at the Doctor and waited for his comment on her act.

That _really_ sounded like him. The Doctor shook his head, still wanting to act casual but the fact was she still looked adorable and was transitioning into the hot stage. She was looking mighty attractive with her smug smile and the over-sized coat. He was a goner. That was it. He was a complete goner for Avalon Reynolds.

"Get over here," he strode the three steps between them and planted his lips against hers. He completely muffled her giggles as he thoroughly pressed his lips over hers, using all his strength for a rough kissing. This time it was Avalon who didn't realize that she was missing something by the time their kiss ended. The Doctor scooped her up into his arms and smiled at her. "Time to go."

"You didn't like my game?" she pouted.

"No, I loved it but I also want to keep your health," he said. "We can definitely play when you're all better, though. And you can keep dressing up all you'd like."

"So long as you wear the coat again," she raised one of her arms, letting the coat's sleeve drop down to her elbow. "Please? You did look incredibly good in it."

He smirked. "Sounds like a deal." He turned for the corridors and headed down the console steps only for Avalon suddenly call for him to wait.

"I want my sonic!"

" _Your_ sonic?" he threw her an incredulous look that grew when he saw she was genuinely serious. Where did she get off doing that?

"I have the coat, I need the sonic."

"Avalon..."

"C'mon Doctor, I don't have much going on right now," she leaned her head over his shoulder. "I'm _bored_ out of my mind here."

That she was and the Doctor was the first in line to see it happening. With a sigh, he gave her a nod. "It's in my right inside pocket. _My_ right."

She beamed and kissed his cheek. She then reached under his jacket for his pocket, though she first made a detour and played with his suspender. She smirked upon feeling his body stiffen.

"Avalon!" he made a face but it was all a farce. He felt the chills when her fingers lingered over that suspender and then tapped her way into his inside pocket. My God he wanted to wipe that smirk off her face. _Control Doctor, she's playing a game again. S_ he was supposed to be resting. She needed to rest and heal.

"There we are," Avalon held his sonic with a grin. "Now we can go!"

"You are too ridiculous!" the Doctor huffed as he finally made his way into the corridor.

"Not as much as you my dear," Avalon gently tossed the sonic between her hands. "And you can't argue that," she added just as the Doctor opened his mouth to do that.

He brought her into her room, something that made her sigh. She truly was bored resting all day and since it was 'night time' it meant she didn't even have Amy or Rory around. The Doctor made it clear that she needed to sleep so he often kept out of her room in the nights.

"Alright," the Doctor gently set her down on her bed. "Now please Avalon, just...nap?"

"But I'm not tired," Avalon felt like a child the way she kept repeating that line. She really appreciated all the care she was receiving from everyone but she was dangerously bored, making her pull such stunts. "Why do you think I was in the wardrobe room? I'm not tired."

"Even if that was true, you just ran a lot and you need to let your body rest from that."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Will you at least stay with me?"

"I don't want to distract you," he mumbled, making her giggle.

"My, my, Fairy Tale Man, _what_ were you thinking of doing here?"

The Doctor had half a mind throwing her blanket over her face. _Why_ did she keep playing like this? The idea was already tempting enough without her having to say it out loud.

"Okay, alright, I guess I'll just have to lay here all by myself..." Avalon sighed dramatically as she turned away from him and held the sonic screwdriver to her chest. "No Fairy Tale Man, just his coat and his sonic."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her attempt to coax him into her bed, and he cursed himself because he was falling for it. Climbing into bed with her and holding her seemed like the best way to spend his night.

"Ava, Amy and Rory might catch us," he said, attempting to go down the logical path. They only just started dating and it sure wouldn't be a good thing for Amy and Rory to find out by walking into the room when they were asleep.

"They won't," Avalon turned his way. "The TARDIS won't let them near my room if you're still in here."

"Ava..."

"Please?"

The Doctor inwardly groaned at himself. She had that pout again. He wouldn't be able to say 'no' to her here and anywhere else if she kept doing that face. Before he knew it, he was kicking his shoes off and climbing into bed with her. "Oh sure, _now_ you smile," he playfully rolled his eyes at her.

"Course I am cos my Fairy Tale Man is right here with me," she snuggled up to his chest.

"Well...can I have my sonic back? You don't really need it anymore, do you? You have me now."

Avalon shrugged and handed the sonic back to him. "Did you actually make that or did the TARDIS do it for you?" she curiously wondered as he slipped it back into his pocket.

"It's all my designs. I have tons of them," the Doctor made a face as he started counting in his head just how many plans he had for sonic screwdrivers. The answer was: too many to count.

Avalon chuckled. "When did you have time to do all of them?"

"I made them centuries ago. Actually, I started when I was young."

"Ah right, I do recall you telling Kazaran that you made the mistake of designing a new screwdriver instead of kissing a girl," Avalon smirked up at him. "You are such a nerd."

"That was a long time ago, I was super nervous and I chickened out!" the Doctor huffed, preferring not to think about his failed conquests.

"So right now...what do you think?" Avalon smacked her lips together for show. "New screwdriver designs...or kiss a girl?"

"That depends..."

Avalon gasped with genuine offence. "You have to _think_ about it!?"

"I was only going to say if I do it, will you promise to try and sleep afterwards!" the Doctor was quick to explain before she got any other wrong ideas. Of course he'd rather kiss her than anything else.

"Oh...well, I'll take that deal."

"Good, because I really need you to try to get some sleep. I get the feeling you over-exerted yourself doing that little running-"

"Would you just shut up and kiss me already?" Avalon frowned at him. My God he could really talk!

"Right!" He dove down to give her his promise kiss, though once he started he found it hard to let go so soon. He moved his hand down to her chin, tilting her head up for a better angle. Avalon was all too eager to keep their moment going and avoiding having to go back to the boring moments of 'sleeping'. Who needed sleep when she could kiss her Fairy Tale Man all night instead?

That sounded like a better game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was too sweet and fun to write. I need fluff in these boring quarantine times!
> 
> P. S: As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	3. Weirded Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalon meets a future Doctor again, only this time she gets an even bigger taste of what her future is going to look like.

For Avalon, there was some inexplicably scary about having a nosebleed. Maybe it had to with the fact she was on her own in Leadworth without her Doctor for the moment or maybe it was the fact there was actual _blood_ dripping from her nose. One of those two had to be worse but right now, Avalon couldn't decide.

_Was this a side affect from my diminished New Earth healing abilities?_ Avalon wished she had the answer. Instead, she had to focus not tripping on the ground as she searched for a place to sit. She had her head tilted backwards to keep the blood from spilling but she could _feel_ it inside her nose. It made her shudder.

_I need to call Lena or the Doctor_ , she concluded but then came actually finding her phone inside her bag. She would have to look down for at least a minute to find it.

_One...two...three!_ Avalon dove her head down and quickly thrust her hand inside her bag to find the cellphone. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" she whispered in a rush. The blood was trickling over her skin that she eventually had to wipe it off on her arm. "Oh dammit!" She actually felt tears in her eyes the longer it took to find her cellphone. _Where the hell is it? Narnia!?_ She had to wipe some tears from her eyes and in doing so she left spots of blood near them too.

"Avalon?" she heard a woman's voice call, a rather familiar one too.

Avalon turned around to face the woman with short blonde hair and light green eyes. "I know you..." Avalon pointed at her with a shaky finger. "I-I met you a while ago..."

The 13th Doctor smiled kindly at Avalon, though it saddened when she saw the blood still oozing down from Avalon's nose. "Look at you, Ava." At the reminder of her current state, Avalon turned away from the Doctor. "Why are you hiding? You were just about to cal me - well, the other me."

"Yeah and before he would show up I'd have cleaned myself up," Avalon mumbled as she now hurried to find a tissue inside her bag. "Why are _you_ here? I mean, this you. Why?"

"Because the other me doesn't make it and I couldn't just let you have your first nosebleed by yourself, especially since you're afraid," the Doctor gently turned Avalon around.

"I'm not...scared..." Avalon tried to scoff but she stopped midway after tasting blood. "Gah! That's gross! Doctor, what's going on with me? Is this a new thing that'll happen now?"

"Ah, ah, don't touch!" the Doctor smacked her hand away, ignoring Avalon's yelp and glare. "If I recall right, your nose was just dry but I'll run the tests again. C'mon." She grabbed Avalon's hand to take her away but the ginger refused.

"What? Go where!? Where are you taking me?"

"Relax Ava, we're just going into the TARDIS. Other me will be here in about-" she grabbed Avalon's arm that held her old incarnation's watch, "-thirty minutes."

Avalon was too confused to put up more refusals. The fact that once again she had bumped into this future Doctor was mind-blowing enough, but to know that the Doctor specifically came because she knew that she was afraid was...something else. So when the Doctor started pulling her in a direction, Avalon let it be.

She was brought to the familiar TARDIS with a whole new interior, one that could genuinely see herself in at one point. "I kind of like the one right now, though," she admitted, making the Doctor stop midway towards the corridor.

Her nose scrunched and she huffed in return. "Oi! Other you likes the interior!"

Avalon smiled lightly. "Well, that's her opinion...and this is mine. I like the orangey one. It's so...pretty."

The Doctor rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "Oh, right, right, just kiss up to the other me! That'll make him go all idiot-grinny!"

"Grinny?" Avalon repeated, close to laughing. "Wow, you really _are_ the Doctor. Being jealous of yourselves will never get tiring. In fact-" She nearly tripped on her feet, another indication that she was getting even more light-headed.

"Okay! Okay! Let's just take a seat her instead," the Doctor decided. She brought Avalon to the nearest steps of the console.

"Why is this happening, Doctor?" Avalon whimpered as she tilted her head, only for the Doctor to yell 'no!' and startle her. "What!?"

"You need to do the opposite! Lower your head and stare at the ground!"

"But that'll make more blood come out!"

"That's the idea!"

"What!?"

The Doctor frantically grabbed Avalon's head and moved it in the direction it needed to be in. "We want all the blood that's in there to come out. If you tilt your head back you could choke on it."

"I can what!?" Avalon gasped, now showing her true fears. "I don't...I don't want to choke on my own blood! Doctor!"

"I know, I know, but it won't happen," the Doctor smiled at her in that same way Avalon recognized as the ' _I'm here_ ' kind of smile. Her Doctor gave her that one a lot lately.

Recuperating was a long journey and sometimes Avalon truly did get scared, so the Doctor would comfort her as best as he could. He would give her those smiles full of warmth and comfort. Every time he smiled at her, she knew that she would be just fine.

"It's me, Ava," the Doctor said to her as if she'd been reading Avalon's thoughts. She still held Avalon's head and her fingers might have been stroking her skin just like her other incarnation would. "It's really me. I'm here." Avalon nodded her head slowly, tears still trying to drip at the corners of her eyes. "I'm going to get you a tissue and then I'm gonna run those tests okay."

Once again Avalon nodded. "Please don't be long. I-I don't want to be alone."

"Oh, you're not alone," the Doctor grinned suddenly. "Hold on! I'll be back!" She kissed Avalon's forehead and rushed off.

Avalon exhaled after the Doctor was gone. She was about to wipe off the blood from her face when she saw the same blood stain on her arm. "Dammit." She really needed that tissue right now.

Suddenly, the TARDIS hummed and a tissue box was sitting next to Avalon. A smile came to her face when she picked up the box.

"So even in the future you'll be helping me out?" she looked up at the darker ceiling. The TARDIS hummed as a response. "Well thanks old girl. It's kind of weird, though. You've had, uh...a lot of work done." She laughed at her own joke and she dared to think that the TARDIS was giving her _the_ look.

"Avalon?" she heard a woman call but it _not_ the Doctor, unless she regenerated between here and the medbay.

"Doctor was telling the truth, she's here!" a young, dark-skinned man exclaimed as he and older man emerged from the corridors. The woman who had called Avalon's name was with them but she seemed more serious than the men.

Naturally, Avalon stood up from the ground out of surprise but it was a mistake. She felt her legs wobbly with her light head condition strengthening. "Oh..."

"Ah, Avalon, hold on!" the woman rushed to help her stay standing but in the end, she saw it was better for Avalon to sit back down. "Oh, that's a nasty nosebleed. Didn't know you got those."

"Who...are you?" Avalon met the woman's gaze with a frown. "And-and where's the Doctor?"

"Oh, she doesn't know us," the older man pointed at the younger man. "That whole, uh, time travel business. That's a younger Avalon."

"Graham, not helping!" the woman shushed him. She smiled kindly at Avalon. "I'm Yaz, we uh...we sort of travel with the Doctor and... _you_. The older you."

"Oh..." Avalon's eyes flickered to the men. "You too?"

"Yeah," the older man nodded. "I'm Graham and this is my grandson, Ryan." The younger man waved a hand. "It's kind of weird doing the introductions again, but I guess that's time travel huh?"

Avalon nodded. "It works like that."

"Here," Yaz grabbed another tissue and ripped it in half. "Doctor says we had to plug your nose for a bit while it bleeds out. She was _very_ thorough that you _not_ tilt your head up."

Avalon took the tissue from Yaz, still processing all the new information she was learning. It was a bit overwhelming, especially in her state. "Thanks..." she plugged her nose with each tissue and leaned her head down like the Doctor told her to.

"You'll be good, you'll see," Yaz smiled away that it made Avalon wonder if it was an instinct of the girl.

"What happened to you, if you don't mind us asking?" Graham asked.

Avalon could see his concern from the tips of her gaze. She could only tilt her head up so much. "I have no idea. One moment I'm walking and then the next I've got a nosebleed. I'm 22 years old and I've never had a nose bleed."

"You're _22_?" Ryan asked in disbelief.

Avalon looked up for a brief moment to see everyone staring at her in the same disbelief. "Yeah, why?"

"Guys," Yaz hissed at the men again. "Different versions, remember? This is obviously a younger version of Avalon."

"Right, right," Ryan mumbled under his breath. "Sorry," he offered to Avalon a moment later.

"How old am I with you guys?" Avalon _had_ to ask with those looks on their faces. They were at an incredible disbelief that she panicked. _What_ she panicked about, she didn't really know.

"Dosen't really matter," Yaz patted her arm comfortingly. "You just need to watch that nose bleed."

" _No_ ," Avalon carefully detached Yaz's hand from her arm and glared. "How old am I?" she asked again with an edgier tone.

"Funny, she does makes the same face," Ryan mumbled to Graham who hummed in agreement.

"Yaz?" Avalon asked for the third - and Yaz knew it would be for the _last_ \- time.

Seems like even with a younger Avalon, she still had the same temper. With a sigh, Yaz answered, "I don't know the exact age but you said it's been a couple centuries."

"Cent..." Avalon couldn't finish the word properly. "I'm _centuries_ old?" She felt like the air had gone from her lungs and to the trio staring at her, they knew they should not have told her the answer. Avalon's eyes were wide to the brim in shock.

"Are you okay? I shouldn't have answered. I'm sorry," Yaz stood up from where she sat and backtracked until she stood next to Graham and Ryan.

"No, no, I'm okay just..." Avalon finally found air to exhale, "It's shocking." She raised her head to meet their gazes. At first glance she could tell they were genuinely concerned about her well being, like Amy and Rory would be. A warm smile came to her face after a moment. "So I...I travel with you?"

"More like _we-"_ Ryan pointed at himself then Graham and Yaz, "-travel with _you_. It's your TARDIS, right?"

"Wel, uh...it's the Doctor's. He stole it."

"He?" Yaz picked up on the word quite fast. "Wait, are you saying...the Doctor was a _man_?"

"He is in my time," Avalon could actually chuckle. She now understood the disbelieving stares.

"I can't picture that," Graham made a face as he presumably tried to imagine the Doctor as a man.

"Well he is. He's my Fairy Tale Man," Avalon smiled to herself.

"Right," went the trio in unison, something Avalon looked at them strangely for.

"It's just too weird," Yaz found her way back to the spot beside Avalon. She grabbed another tissue to help Avalon switch the ones in her nose. It didn't even look like she realized it but Avalon did. She smiled at the girl.

"What? That the Doctor can be a man and a woman?" Avalon presumed and it was a fair thought for anyone who didn't yet know about that Time Lord feature. She herself didn't exactly know _all_ the mechanics of regeneration but she was sure that one day her Doctor would explain the process.

"We're just used to the versions of you two that we have," Yaz found her words a few minutes later.

"How is he in the past?" Ryan found himself asking out of sheer curiosity.

Avalon smiled at the question and noticed the scolding look on Yaz's face. She sort of reminded her of Lena. It was endearing. "He's...wonderful. He, um, he's all over the place. He sort of acts like a child-"

"Oh, so relatively the same then as this Doc," Graham said with a nod of his head.

"But he's taller," Avalon added. "My Doctor's at least four inches taller. Oh, and he wears bowties. And tweed."

"Bowties?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be in a struggle not to laugh. " _Seriously_?"

"Mhm. They're stupid but I've grown fond of the tweed. But I mean, he's just completely amazing. He's my Fairy Tale Man."

Yaz rolled her eyes at Avalon. "You sound just like the Avalon _we_ know."

Avalon flipped her head in the woman's direction. "Well, who am I to you?"

"You're Avalon," Yaz shrugged.

"Bit scary sometimes if you, uh, want to work on that..." Ryan cleared his throat, ignoring Yaz's scolding face.

Avalon didn't look the least bit bothered. "If I'm scary then it means you probably pissed me off. Don't do it."

"Ava! Ava!" the Doctor came running back into the room with a handheld device. "How we doin'!? Are you alright?"

Avalon nodded slightly then pointed to her nose. "When will it stop?"

"Ah, takes a moment," the Doctor sat down on her other side. "Now just sit still."

Avalon threw her a look. "It's not like I have another choice."

The Doctor rolled her eyes. "Just do it!"

Yaz got up from her spot and returned to Graham's and Ryan's side. For a moment, the Doctor and Avalon sounded like _their_ versions. It was so odd meeting such a young Avalon, especially when she had no idea who they were. She _looked_ out of place and way too shy than their version.

"Got it, see?" the Doctor barely allowed Avalon a proper look at the device. She moved it too fast! "Your nose was just dry!"

"Can't imagine why," Avalon mumbled under her breath. It wasn't like Kovarian had stuck her in a blazing hot room then switched the temperatures every so often to torture her.

The Doctor immediately knew where Avalon's thoughts had gone to. She put the scanner down beside her and slid off the step to bend down in front of Avalon. "You're going to be fine. I'm - well, other me - he's going to be back soon. I know you're just weirded out having _me_ around but I...I couldn't let you be on your own after you told me you were scared."

"I'm not weirded out, Doctor," Avalon lightly smiled. "I have gone through so much to be weirded out by a future version of you. I mean, it _is_ a bit odd to meet future you and...companions..." She met the human trio standing not so far from them. "But I know where I'm safe. I'm in the TARDIS, with my Doctor."

A huge grin spread across the Doctor's face. "Yeah?"

Avalon blushed. This Doctor seemed to also own the same intense gaze. "...yeah," she whispered then truly took the instruction to stare at the ground seriously now.

"Yeah, it's her alright," Yaz whispered to Ryan and Graham.

"We should give them some time," Graham suggested, though he suspected that neither Avalon nor the Doctor would even notice if they disappeared right now.

Ryan decided to test the unspoken suspicion. "Hey Doctor? Avalon? We'll be...around, if you need us?"

To their collective surprise, the pair did hear them.

"It was nice meeting you," Avalon offered them a polite smile. "I, uh, look forward to meeting you."

"Yeah," Yaz smiled back. "It's a whole event. Actually, it was kind of funny in the beginning cos you couldn't get over the fact I work with the police."

Avalon's eyes momentarily widened, making Yaz and the others laugh. That had been her other version's reaction too. " _You're_ a cop!? Oh no, no, _now_ I've seen everything. I'm going to be friends with a _cop_."

"Ava, don't move so much," the Doctor warned while Avalon processed the information she would eventually get to one day.

"See yah," Yaz waved at the pair, still laughing at Avalon's wide-eyed look. She hurried along with Ryan and Graham into the corridors.

"Alright, now it's a bit freaky," Avalon remarked when it was just her and the Doctor. "Do you really take in a cop into your TARDIS?"

"Yaz is fantastic! Just like Ryan and Graham! You'll love them!" the Doctor assured her. "And actually, you're the one who suggested we take 'em in."

" _Me_?" Avalon made a face. "But I can't just bring people in. It's not my place."

"Yes it is," the Doctor said a bit too fast and then had Avalon's strange look on her. With a sigh, the Doctor added, in a more slow and serious way, "Avalon, I don't know if other me has made it clear to you but...this-" she gestured to the room, "-isn't just mine anymore. It's yours. It's... _ours_. I know it's weird, I know I probably should be keeping my mouth shut but I can't...I never can with you. I need you to know that our future is good, it's really good."

Avalon felt heart her warm up (just like her face). "Yaz said something about...about me being centuries old? Is that true?"

The Doctor knew better than to release such information but just like always, Avalon made her do the opposite. And why? Because she asked. "You...are definitely older than what you are right now."

"But _centuries_ old?" Avalon chuckled. "I can't believe that. We're...we're still traveling together? After centuries?"

"Time's all wibbly-wobbly but from where you are right now and where I am right now...it's a decent gap. Is that okay with you?"

"I honestly have no idea. It's all...too overwhelming..."

"I know, I understand," the Doctor quickly nodded. "Don't worry about it!"

"I'm only 22," Avalon sheepishly said. "I mean, technically speaking, New Earth civilians are officially grown up when they reach 21. And now you're telling me that I'm centuries old!?"

The Doctor wished she could tell Avalon how much older she was now, but why add on more? She was already having trouble processing everything else she learned. "It's okay, it's okay! Everything is good!" She surprised Avalon with a hug. "I won't say more, I know it's all weird. I don't want to make it weird. I just came back to make sure you felt safe and not scared."

Avalon slowly hugged back. "I'm not scared...and I feel plenty safe." The Doctor beamed and pulled away, planting a kiss on Avalon's forehead. She blushed and for the next fifteen minutes, she listen to the Doctor tell her a tale to forget about the wicked nosebleed. Turns out, she knew a lot of them which led avalon to believe that her current Doctor was holding out on her!

Eventually, the Doctor realized her younger version would be arriving to Leadworth very soon. She _had_ to let Avalon go, even if she really didn't want to (and really _didn't_ want to). So, a few minutes later Avalon stood in the park again with only minimal dried blood still on her upper lip.

"Now you just stay here, alright?" the Doctor handed her another tissue. "He'll be here. I promise."

"Okay," Avalon nodded. "Thanks for coming." She squeezed the Doctor's hand holding hers. "I _was_ scared."

The Doctor smiled lightly. "I'll always come. Might not always be the Doctor you know but one of me will always come. That's a promise." Avalon chuckled. "Oh! But you know, just be warned that if the other me - not the bowtie, the one after - shows up, he's a bit grumpy. Actually, he's a lot grumpy. But he'll still come."

Avalon's eyes widened at the prospect of meeting yet another version of the Doctor. She wouldn't mind meeting any of them if she was being honest. She looked away while a blush filled her face. "Thanks."

The Doctor regretfully let go of her hand. "See you later."

"See you later," Avalon waved. "Go get other me! Where is she anyways?"

"Ah, Ava's off being...Ava," the Doctor shrugged but there was a curious grin on her face. "I'm gonna surprise her with an earlier pick up."

"I look forward to it," Avalon said with nothing but full honesty, and perhaps curiosity.

The Doctor smiled at her one more time before hurrying off. Avalon would only then wait a few minutes for _her_ Doctor to show up. As soon as he saw her dabbing the minuscule blood on her upper lip, he went ballistic. Dozens of questions were thrown her way and while Avalon tried to answer them and even show him that she was okay, the Doctor picked her up in a bridal style and dashed for the TARDIS.

"Why didn't you call me!? I _told_ you to call me!" he went back and forth in the medbay running the same tests his older version already hand. Avalon would let him do it, he wouldn't stop anyways. She sat on the edge of the medbed letting him ramble on. "Nosebleeds! Ava! Seriously! They're not dangerous but we still have to treat them properly!" the Doctor came back with wipes to finally clear off the dry blood. "What happened?" Avalon said nothing for the first few seconds. He gently dabbed her skin until he noticed her distant expression. He worried this was another side-effect from her recuperation. "Avalon? Are you alright?"

Avalon's eyes flickered to him and he couldn't help notice how she studied him. "Do you think we'll travel together for a long time?"

The Doctor blinked at the question. "Huh?"

"Do you think we'll be together for a long time?"

The Doctor couldn't understand where this question came from, especially when she should be worrying about her health. Still, he couldn't give up the chance to answer _that_ question. "I _know_ so." Avalon initially seemed unconvinced so he put the wipe down and gently cupped her face. "I know that we'll be together for a long, _long_ time."

"How?"

"I just do. I can't see myself _without_ you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Avalon-" the Doctor chuckled, "-why are you asking this?"

Avalon bit her lower lip. "I'm just...curious. Do you really think we'll be together, say...for centuries?"

The Doctor smiled so quick it truly surprised Avalon. He set his hands on either side of her on the medbed and leaned close to her face. "If I'm _truly_ lucky then yes. I want to be with you forever, actually."

Avalon felt her face warm up. "Forever?"

"Well, yeah, you know...if...if that's okay...with you?" the Doctor stammered once he realized that maybe, just maybe, Avalon wasn't quite ready for that conversation. _You only just started dating her and now you're talking about **forever** with her? Idiot Doctor! _He drew his hands off the medbed in a flash. "Sorry! Um, I-"

Avalon seized his wrists before he turned away. "If I say 'yes' would you freak out like human men do?"

"What? No!" the Doctor exclaimed. "But I get if it's too weird..."

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. Now he was sounding like the other Doctor. "I'm _not_ weirded out! God! I don't know how many times I have to keep saying that but listen to me!" She let go of the Doctor's wrists only to grab his head and yank him forwards. "I am _not_ weirded out by the idea of spending... _centuries_ with you. Spending...forever...with you. Do you get that? I would love for that to happen. I would love to spend my centuries with you, to spend my forever with you. You got that?"

The Doctor nodded his head slowly. "Yes."

Avalon let go of his face with a clean smile on her face. "Great. Because I can't wait for that. I can't wait for our future, no matter what versions we are. Even if you're a grumpy face or a sweet face..."

"Grumpy face?" the Doctor pouted. "Why would I be a grumpy face?"

Avalon chuckled and planted a kiss on his lips. "It's alright, you'd be _my_ grumpy face."

"Can I be the sweet face instead?" the Doctor pressed his forehead to hers and gave her short kisses every so often. He intended on kissing her until she agreed.

"One day," Avalon knowingly smiled before she was kissed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, another fluff piece when Avalon's still recuperating and I'm guilty to say I've got another one in mind. So sorry but it's quarantine and I'm dead bored!
> 
> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	4. Aurora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor has left Avalon back on Earth to keep her safe from the Silence. Avalon is determined to find him but suddenly drops the entire case. What stopped her?

**A/N: An AU based on the last chapter of Falling in Temptation.**

* * *

_"She's a miracle. J_ _ust like you_."

No. She was no miracle. She was a _connection._ She was a connection to the last person Avalon Reynolds would ever see in her life and yet the person she wished she could see with all her heart.

Aurora Leigh Reynolds was the tiniest being Avalon had ever seen, the tiniest thing Avalon had ever carried in her arms. She was afraid that one of her movements might hurt the infant but Aurora was a relentless, smiling infant. Instead of fussing like any other newborn, Aurora went right for the squeals. One of them actually scared Avalon who'd thought that something was wrong.

"She's just happy, that's all," Rory assured her after one particular squeal made Avalon panic.

"I thought newborns were supposed to be quiet," she said with a thoroughly puzzled face. Her grandparents chuckled at her.

"Well human newborns usually are," Rory said, purposely trailing off so that Avalon would get the jist without having to hear it. It could be too soon.

Avalon would of course understand. Her face fell sad for a moment. She passed a hand over her newborn daughter's tuft of brown hair. The simple movement earned Avalon a small smile from the infant. Aurora seemed to never want to stop smiling.

Already she was resembling her father.

"So, what do you want to do?" Amy pulled Avalon out of her thoughts. "You can come stay with us on Earth and we can help you raise her or...you can stay on New Earth. It's completely your choice."

Avalon nodded, silently thanking her for that. She didn't have many options anymore, not since the Doctor decided to drop her and her grandparents off on Earth nearly a year ago. He never gave her the option to choose whether or not she wanted to stay with him and fight the Silence. No, _he_ decided that it was on _him_ to fight Kovarian and her stupid war. He decided that she and everyone else had to stay away from the TARDIS. He took her decisions away and yet, as mad as she wanted to be right now, she couldn't find the energy to. Aurora was relentless in that aspect as well. No one could be sad around her. At only two days born, she had the talent to make anyone smile and laugh if they were around her. Her mother would definitely need that.

Up until now, Avalon didn't realize how much she would need her daughter to _stay_. When the Doctor left, everything became like a haze to her. Days passed by without a care. Time was nonexistent. All she knew was that her Fairy Tale Man left her and with no sign of when he would come back, _if_ he would ever come back. She didn't want to think of the possibility that the Silence might get to kill him. But all that had to be set aside the moment she realized she was left pregnant.

At that moment, she had to first get over the fact she. was. _pregnant_. If she was throwing up during those first days, it was mostly because she was so shocked. She and the Doctor had never had that conversation and suddenly it seemed like one of the things they should've talked about _way_ in the beginning.

* * *

_"Maybe we should try to get in contact with the Doctor," Lena had suggested to Avalon during the first week after they'd learned of the pregnancy._

_Avalon stood in front of her long wall mirror. She'd taken to staring at herself in those days, like she'd soon find herself wearing that belly bump already. She swallowed hard. "You think I haven't tried getting through to him?"_

_Lena glanced at Amy and Rory in the room. They were treading carefully but they were aware that one thing, even a small thing, could make Avalon explode. She'd been through a lot and now she'd have another thing_ — _a small, crying thing_ — _to handle._

_"The stupid Fairy Tale Man left me out of heroics and now he doesn't know that he's..." Avalon gulped. It was still all so new and **surreal**. "He's going to be a **father**."_

_"We could try River again," Lena was still waiting for Amy and Rory to make a comment that they would try phoning their daughter again. Neither of them said anything. In fact, neither of them were even looking at her nor Avalon. They were exchanging secretive glances._

_Avalon caught them through the mirror. "What?"_

_Amy cleared her throat. "Um...Rory and I have been talking..."_

_"Yeah, we just don't want to upset you..." Rory said slowly._

_Avalon turned sideways and met her grandparents' nervous gazes. "What is it?"_

_"Don't get upset, Ava," Rory took a few steps towards her, "But maybe...maybe it's best if you **don't** contact the Doctor."_

_Avalon's reaction was quick and expected. Her face scrunched in outrage. "What!?"_

_Even Lena was left confused. "Guys...how could you say that? My big brother would definitely want to know that he's going to have a baby!"_

_"No one is saying he wouldn't," Amy clarified first, holding her hands up to show she wasn't interested in arguing. "Of course he would...but you also have to realize why he left us in the first place."_

_"The Silence," Avalon said quickly. Of course she knew why the Doctor left all of them in Leadworth. How could she forget?_

_"As painful as it was for him to leave, Avalon, he did do it for a noble reason," Rory slowly came up to Avalon. "He doesn't want us to get hurt."_

_"Rory_ —"

_"Just think for a second, Ava," Rory clapped his hands together in a praying gesture, "What would the Silence do if they found out that you were pregnant with the Doctor's child?"_

_Avalon's breath was caught in her throat. Fear blossomed across her chest as she realized what really **would** happen. She turned back to the mirror, her hands coming to rest over her stomach. A fierce protectiveness took her over that for a moment, one split moment, she forgot about the Doctor and herself._

_**Thebabythebabythebabythebaby**. She swallowed hard. Tears filled her eyes once she realized what she had to do. No matter how much it hurt her — and it did — she couldn't let anything happen to her baby. The Doctor had put her first and now she would put their child first._

* * *

Little Aurora Leigh Reynolds had been born healthy and strong on July 29, 2011. Avalon had been terrified during her pregnancy about _what_ she would do with a _baby_ but the moment she had held her daughter, she didn't care anymore. She didn't care about the fear nor the fact that she knew zero about being a mother. The Sapling had been such a different story but he had never solely depended on her...not like Aurora.

"New Earth," Avalon finally decided. She met her grandparent's eyes with a sad but certain smile. "I'm going to spend some time on New Earth. If the Silence dare to come for us at least New Earth has more protection than our Earth."

Nobody could argue with that logic.

Avalon lightly touched her daughter's cheek. Almost immediately she was granted a smile. It created a whole new type of a rush, a sweet one that she wouldn't trade for anything in the world. _The Silence will **never** touch you_, she silently vowed. The Doctor had taken on his mission and now so would she.

~ 0 ~

Over the next months, Avalon trained herself to always look over her shoulder. She lived with her family on New Earth, using those first years to learn everything she could about being a parent to her daughter. Her uncle Ryland was the best teacher she could've asked for. She learned how to differentiate the cries of her daughter to know when she was hungry, when she needed a changing, and simply when she just wanted to be with her mother.

It was all so new to her.

As months turned into years, Avalon fell into the role of a mother. She couldn't help wonder _how_ she was doing it but sometimes she realized that she _hadn't_ realized she was being a mother. Sometimes, things just came easily.

Right now was one of those moments. Aurora was just over a year and, by far, still the smallest and softest thing Avalon had ever seen in her life. She was drinking from her bottle on her mother's bed, dressed in a fuzzy white onesie with tiny roses. Avalon was lying right beside her, helping to tilt the bottle every now and then. Despite it being a year later, it was still so strange to Avalon how Aurora was _hers_. The little baby, toddler, was hers and just hers. Aurora depended solely on her and even though it was the hardest job Avalon ever had, she couldn't fathom turning it away. Giving up Aurora was like giving up her life in the process. Avalon wasn't interested.

Aurora pulled the bottle from her mouth to yawn, making her mother chuckle lightly. Avalon set the empty bottle on the night stand then reached over the toddler for a pink blanket. "Someone's sleepy." Aurora reached up for the blanket, and in the process her legs too. Avalon laughed. Aurora was a giddy toddler even when sleep beckoned her. "Settle down, Aurora. It's time for sleep." Aurora yawned and turned her little body towards Avalon. "Oh no, I know that trick," Avalon shook her head. "One turn, and then you're all smiley and suddenly...Mummy has one loud, wide-eyed baby!"

As if Aurora understood — and Avalon was sure that she did — she giggled. "Yes!"

Avalon shook her head again. If it didn't hurt her to admit it, she would say Aurora was acting a lot like the Doctor right now. "Okay, c'mon now," Avalon draped the blanket over her daughter, making sure to turn Aurora flat on her back. "Shhh, just lay for Mummy," she gently stroked Aurora's hair. "It's time to sleep."

Aurora brought the blanket to her nose to start that odd rubbing Avalon noticed a long time ago. It was Aurora's own self-lullaby. Her eyes watched Avalon continue to stroke strands of her hair.

' _I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam..."_ Avalon sang her daughter's favorite bedtime tune. It was funny how things worked sometimes. Aurora's favorite bedtime song was the very song that her parents shared during their most special moments together. " _And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do._ _You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.._." Avalon smiled softly as Aurora's eyes slowly fell shut. In a matter of minutes, she was fast asleep. "Goodnight." Avalon lowered her head down to kiss Aurora's forehead.

~ 0 ~

Avalon began to notice just how different her daughter truly was — and would be — from all the other children. Trying to be a good mother and offer her daughter some normal social interaction, she enrolled Aurora into school, but she did so with a different name to keep her identity hidden: Aurora Smith. A light call to her father who was still missing. Aurora turned out to be a model student, a student who excelled at almost every task assigned to her. Even as a baby she'd hit all her milestones far before a human baby would.

Aurora learned to be cautious like her mother but even she was aware that she knew more than she should. What's more, she _liked_ knowing that fact. She liked knowing that she could learn more, retain more, and handle more. She didn't understand before, and her mother wouldn't exactly explain it, but she knew that her ability stemmed from her parents...and when she was older, she understood that her father played a vital role.

"I love it, sweetie," Avalon was in tears when her five year old daughter presented her newest project to the family.

Aurora had recreated the TARDIS as a small model. Unlike her great grandmother's wooden painted model, Aurora had created the model out of actual metal. She'd carved the small police sign outside on the doors and small glass fragments — something her mother was actually furious about — to pose as the windows.

"And watch, Mummy!" Aurora reached for something under the TARDIS and with one flick, lights twinkled at the top. "I figured out how to—"

"Create electricity," Avalon sighed with a smile playing on her lips. "Of course you did." Of course her daughter would be able to figure out how to add light to a frikin toy model with absolutely no help at all.

"Do you think Daddy would like it?" Aurora's question left Avalon frozen. The five year old was excitedly waiting to hear her mother's answer.

Avalon ultimately nodded her head. A few tears escaped from her eyes. "Of course he would," she sniffed. "Come here!" She moved to the couch and opened her arms for her daughter to join her.

Aurora beamed. She swiped the TARDIS model off the coffee table and jumped on her mother's lap. "I want to leave it somewhere Daddy might see it. Then he could find us with it."

Avalon's vision blurred. She almost sobbed right there and then. No matter how many years passed by, she couldn't let go of the pain the Doctor's abandonment caused. She knew _now_ that he was trying to protect her, trying to sacrifice himself for her — because it's the same thing she was doing for Aurora — but it never stopped. Her heart was as broken as it was the day she saw the TARDIS disappear from her sight.

"Mummy, where can I leave it?" Aurora asked as she toyed with the model in her hands.

"Um," Avalon sniffed, "Maybe...maybe in Mummy's bedroom window." She suggested that because her room faced the backyard away from the streets. No one would be able to see it and draw attention. She was sure that Aurora would understand the concept of 'hiding' but she never wanted Aurora to know that the terrible story — the _history_ — of her family fighting the Silence. So, Avalon would re-invent a few stories here and there to avoid her daughter finding out the terrible truth.

"Mummy," Aurora called, her fingers tinkering with the twinkling lights of her toy model, "What's the real TARDIS like?"

"Oh, Aurora, you already know," Avalon said. She had little to no hope that Aurora would desist on the question. It was one of her favorite stories involving her father.

"I know," Aurora let her head fall against her mother's chest, "But I like to hear it. You say she's like one of my grandmothers."

"She is," Avalon wrapped an arm around her daughter. She played with Aurora's ginger waves. "Your grandmother River is my Mum but...the TARDIS is why Mummy is so different and, by extension, you too. The TARDIS is a wonderful place. It's infinite inside."

"Goes on forever and ever," Aurora recited with a giggle. "There's a swimming pool, a big library like in Beauty and the Beast!"

"Yeah," Avalon chuckled. "It went on forever and ever. You could walk the hallways and the TARDIS would move them around to make it easier for you."

"Or when she was trying to be silly with you," Aurora tilted her head up with a giggle.

Avalon looked down at her daughter and felt her heart skip a beat. Aurora's eyes were a perfect copy of the Doctor's. Bright green eyes blinked up at her with all the excitement in the world, yet another exact trait of the Doctor's. "Yeah," Avalon whispered and gently touched her daughter's cheek. "She was very silly with your Mum...but she was also very kind. She made a whole media room just for me."

"That's where you used to watch movies with Daddy," Aurora prided herself with her memory. She remembered all the stories her Mummy would tell her. "And danced! You said that's where you first danced with Daddy."

Avalon's face started to fall at the bittersweet memories. "Yes..." She didn't like remembering them often, it hurt too much, but it was also painful to forget.

"Do you think Daddy would dance with me?" Aurora asked suddenly.

Avalon smiled softly at her. She tucked a ginger wave behind Aurora's ear. "What other princess would he dance with?"

"You," the child answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

Avalon laughed shortly. "I, uh, I think my time as the Princess ended a long time ago."

"Right! Because you're the Queen now!" Aurora hopped off her mother's lap and twirled around with her TARDIS model above her head. "And I'm the princess! And Daddy's the King!" She hummed a tune to herself while she continued to dance.

Avalon watched her daughter with tears in her eyes. "A knight," she said loud enough for Aurora to hear.

She stopped for a second. "What?"

Avalon quickly cleared off the loose tears in the corner of her eyes. "Your father never wanted to be a prince. He was a Knight in shining armor." She heaved a heavy sigh. "Because he was always there to save Mummy."

"Well, where is he right now? Do you know?"

Avalon struggled hard not to sob on the spot. "No, sweetie, I don't. Knowing your Daddy...he's probably still out there saving the world." She hated what came next because it was always the same. Aurora would ask when her father would come for them. Each time Avalon would come up with an answer to dissuade Aurora from asking anything else. She feared the day where a simple-worded answer would no longer suffice for Aurora and that her curiosity would lead her to go in search of real answers that could hurt her.

~ 0 ~

Aurora would continue to grow up with an exceptional intelligence. It would come to the point where Avalon could no longer stay in the same area. Teachers, parents, _people_ , were starting to notice Aurora more and more. She couldn't let that happen but she didn't want to stunt Aurora's natural intelligence either so the only logical thing to do was _move_. It broke their family's hearts to see them move but being in a new city would mean a new start. Aurora could continue being herself and that's what mattered.

Avalon long ago abandoned her own dreams and ambitions to make sure no one noticed them. And as the years went by, she became used to it. Her only priority was Aurora and her life. She was keenly aware of everyone that knew them, what they thought of the mother and daughter. When she became aware that once again too much attention was being drawn on them, she made plans to move.

"Why are we moving again?" Aurora would question her mother as soon as she came home and top up their apartment was full of boxes. Aurora resembled a ten year old girl but, with her parents' biological inheritance, she was nearing fifty now.

"Oh you know, Mummy's weird like that," Avalon offered her daughter a warm smile. "She wants to see another city."

The truth was that Aurora had inadvertently drawn too much attention during one of her science fairs. There were too many scholars coming after them with questions. Avalon couldn't allow that.

"Where are we going?" Aurora let her school bag drop on the floor. She came to the nearest open box and peeked inside. She saw portraits of their family stuffed inside.

"Um, two cities down," Avalon headed for the kitchen. "Let me make sure I packed your mugs. Can't forget those, right?" Aurora had created special mugs that somehow cleaned themselves after being used. Something about using the right metal and adding ' _a few tinks here and there'_. She had sounded so much like the Doctor when she said that, it almost made Avalon cry on the spot.

Aurora picked up one of the portraits from the box in front of her. It was her Mummy when she was younger. Well, Aurora _knew_ that her Mummy was younger. Avalon didn't age fast. She looked the same in almost every picture.

This one had Avalon in a park, sitting under a tree with her grandparents, Amy and Rory. They were laughing at something and Aurora guessed it was something to do with her great grandfather. He did say that they liked picking on him sometimes.

"I got them," Avalon returned shortly after. "Don't take out things, young lady, or we might forget something."

"Can we go to Earth, Mum?" The question stopped Avalon in her track. Aurora turned the portrait over for Avalon to see. "Grandma Amy and Grandpa Rory say they have a room for me in their house. Why can't we go live with them?"

Avalon sighed. "We've been over this, princess." She walked over to Aurora and bent down beside her. "Earth doesn't work like New Earth does. If we go back and I say that you're my daughter, they're going to ask a lot of questions. Plus, take it from someone who was nearly as smart as you are, Mummy had a lot of trouble at school because she knew more than human children did." She brushed some ginger strands out of Aurora's face. "Mummy never wants you to hide your intelligence. New Earth is where you can shine like the star that you are." _With some supervision_ , she silently lamented. "You don't need the restrictions that Earth has. But tell you what, we can have Grandma Amy and Grandpa Rory visit us in our new house."

"And Grandma River!?"

"...sure," Avalon said with a tighter smile. Despite having a rocky relationship with her biological mother, she never let it affect the relationship River had with Aurora. Even if it pained her to admit it, Avalon knew that River was the only person qualified to teach Aurora about space and its mechanics should something were to ever happen to her. Avalon didn't like thinking that the Silence might one day capture her but she had to for the sake of her daughter. She had made a plan a long time ago that if something happened to her, Aurora would go to River. River knew more about the galaxies and civilizations which meant she was the only one, besides the Doctor, who could effectively hide Aurora.

Several cities later would see the entire Ponds reunited in Avalon's new home. Aurora was ecstatic to have all her grandparents in the same room. She was eager to show everyone the new inventions she'd come up with but also to play a good old fashion tea party with them.

"She seems happy," River remarked to her own daughter whilst they watched Aurora force a tiara onto Amy's head.

Avalon nodded silently. She often became reserved when River was around. Fifty years after learning River was her real mother did nothing to smooth over their relationship.

"You know that if you ever want to leave New Earth...you can give me a call," River met Avalon's glance.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "But for now I want to keep Aurora on one planet. It's bad enough that I keep making her change cities, I won't make her change _planets_ too."

River nodded, understanding completely. Though she didn't always talk to Avalon, she was aware of how many times they'd moved around.

Avalon watched her daughter move around Rory as she talked him up to be a Knight in shining armor...just like her Daddy. "Have you...do you know where he is right now?" The question had come out in a frail whisper.

River's head snapped in Avalon's direction, eyes wide to the brim. In fifty years, it was the first time Avalon asked about the Doctor. "I don't..."

The tears were quick to pool in Avalon's eyes. "I just wonder if 50 years have passed for him or...maybe _centuries_. Is he still alive? Did the Silence win? If they didn't and he won...why hasn't he come back?" Maybe he'd gotten over the Ponds altogether and he was traveling with someone else. It broke her heart but not as much as the thought that Aurora would never get to meet him.

"I don't know where he is," River admitted. "I haven't exactly searched for him either."

"Do you think he's still alive?"

"Very much, yes."

Avalon gave her a questioning look. "How do you know?"

River smiled. "Because that man never dies. I imagine he's still fighting out there."

"Or maybe he just moved on..."

"Never. No one could get over _you_ , sweetheart."

Avalon chuckled genuinely. "Right." She let her laugh die in the following seconds. She watched Aurora explain to her grandparents how the story of their tea party would go and to no one's surprise, it involved a lot of space travels. "River, she's been asking about the places I traveled to in my days in the TARDIS. She wants to go."

"I imagine she does," River smirked. With the parents she had, it was no surprise that Aurora would want to seek the stars as well.

"I can't go gallivanting around the galaxies. I'd put us in danger. They know my face but they don't know Aurora's yet. Maybe, one day, if you'd like, you could take Aurora somewhere. Like a field trip."

River was thoroughly shocked. "Really?"

Avalon nodded. "Yeah. No one on New Earth could teach her the things you already know about the galaxies. I certainly don't know as much as you. Aurora's young but I know that she wants to be up there. She should have the opportunity to learn."

"I'd love to," River said in a heartbeat.

A warm smile spread across her lips. She met Aurora's gaze and laughed. The child had switched the toys around so that Amy held the sword and Rory wore the tiara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 is on the way!
> 
> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	5. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalon watches her daughter grow up into a teenager. She just doesn't realize that Aurora knows more than she leads on.

**A/N: I picture Aurora looking like the actress Kennedy McMann!**

* * *

On Aurora's 100th birthday, her grandmother River brought her to Akhaten. She explained the importance of the planet as soon as they got there: Akhaten was the spot her father promised to bring her mother to. He never got the chance but it was only right that one Reynolds see it. River promised Aurora that the Doctor would want nothing more than to know that his daughter got to visit the planet.

Aurora was amazed by the different sight. She had never been off planet so she was very proud to know at least half of the species she saw. She was as fast as her father on her feet, leaving River out of breath several times. She wanted to see everything and try everything - she had inherited her father's knack for tasting _everything_ and _anything_. Like Avalon, she had an attitude that put her in arguments with people several centuries older than her. River knew that she should've disapproved but the sight of seeing her little granddaughter - who was nothing more than a small child - argue the hell out of a grumpy old man was far too amusing. That was definitely all Avalon. There was one significant thing that River took great notice of in her granddaughter. What Aurora saw did not work, she talked about _making_ it work. Whether it was a couple machines she noticed sparking or an intangible system like making lines for a shop, if it did not work then Aurora would talk about fixing it. It made River smile. That was uniquely _Aurora_.

"I like building things," the little girl would shrug and say each time River asked her that day why she was so focused on brainstorming ideas to fix whatever she saw wrong.

When the day finished and Aurora came home, she stayed up all night telling her mother everything she saw. Avalon let her talk throughoutthe night. The mother and daughter laid on one bed that night with Aurora rambling on and on about Akhaten. At 100, Aurora was more than aware that her lifespan would allow for centuries and _centuries_ of potential adventures. She promised to bring her mother to Akhaten when she was older.

That brought Avalon to tears.

"I know that Daddy promised he would take you but if he doesn't ever come back, _I'll_ take you," Aurora shifted on the bed to face her mother, a clear older version of herself.

Avalon smiled sadly. "Oh princess, that'd be nice but it's okay. I don't need to go anywhere. I'm good where I am."

"But I'm going to go one day," Aurora said with an impossibly big grin. "I'm going to go to all the places in the world! I'm going to see everything and fix whatever I can to help!"

Aurora would continue to excitedly announce the galaxies she would see one day, never knowing the fear it instilled in her mother. As much as she would love for Aurora to explore the world, Avalon couldn't let go of the fear that the Silence would capture Aurora in one of those adventures. She did not want to keep her daughter locked up but she didn't want any harm to come to her either. What would she do?

As Aurora continued to grow, she started making a list of possible places to see when she was a legitimate adult. Not even the continuous moves would affect her anymore. Avalon always put on her best supportive face whenever Aurora talked about a new place to visit. Even when River would take Aurora out somewhere completely safe, Avalon was a nervous wreck. She didn't want anything to happen to Aurora.

One hundred years turned into 200 and by that time, Aurora resembled the appearance of a young girl. From a human perspective, though, she was a teenager. Fourteen years old is what Aurora's brain scans said. She was at the beginning of her teenage-hood and while Avalon prepared herself for a troubled teenage-hood resembling her own, Aurora turned out to be the opposite.

Where Avalon was impulsive and a loud mouth, Aurora was quiet and sneaky. If she had a problem, she dealt with it discreetly. She was quick but learned quite well how to pretend to move like the other students. She learned the cues of social life and when she _chose_ to follow them, she was a natural. Almost graceful. She was adept at pretending, something neither of her parents ever mastered. Although it pained her to think about it, Avalon felt sure that if something happened to her - if the Silence ever caught up to her and Aurora was left alone, Aurora would have enough skills to hide herself. This was Avalon's second backup plan. If the plan of River hiding Aurora fell through, Aurora could still fend for herself. It was a horrible way of thinking but it was a neccessary way too.

Aurora loved travelling so it only seemed right to believe that she would be able to handle things on her own if something happened to her mother. However, all of a sudden, Aurora seemed to drop the idea of travelling. Whether or not she still wanted to, she never said, but Avalon got the jist when Aurora started expressing a desire to go to a local university after she finished her schooling.

"I'm just saying if you would like to see a college maybe off-planet, then I would be just fine with that," Avalon would smile to her daughter as convincingly as possible.

Aurora would simply shake her head. "Nope, I'm good. I found out that there's a university with a really good engineering program in the next city. I don't need to go off planet. I can stay right here with you." She reached across the isle to grab her strawberry milkshake Avalon finished making. With no cherry on top she gladly drank from the straw.

Avalon drank from her own milkshake. "Well you still have time. Plenty of it."

Aurora shrugged. "Yeah, we'll see." She eyed the mess of papers on the edge of the isle and from a quick glance, she knew what they were. "Are you writing again?"

Avalon quickly set the papers in a neat stack. "Just the usual short stories."

"Right," Aurora kept the sour tone hidden very well. She knew the short stories were used to get them by and that the real stories her mother wrote, the full books, were never going to see the light of day.

The subtle sourness would turn into bitterness when Aurora turned 16 in human terms. By that point, she was aware of everything that went on around her. She was a competent, intelligent woman. She'd learned how to navigate on her own without her mother's knowledge.

She would make sure to come home on time even when things begged to be seen and explored. She owed her mother that much. She was a law abiding citizen and a stellar student, everything to not give her mother any worries.

Avalon was too busy looking over her shoulder to notice anything. She busied herself with keeping them hidden like always. While Aurora was at school, she would do quick trips for the groceries, trips to her job to drop off new short stories, any other miscellaneous errands and then be home long before Aurora was due home from school.

Today she was busying herself with a new short story. She had a cup of tea sitting beside her while she worked through the drafts. It was like any other day...until she heard a noise.

She rubbed her forehead, thinking it was just a trick her mind was playing. It wouldn't be the first time. She picked up her pen to keep writing but three words down and the sound wasn't going away. It was actually getting louder.

"Absolutely no way," she whispered with a hammering heart. She got out of her stool and sprinted towards the door, all the meanwhile her heart prepared to burst from her chest. "No, no, no, no, no—" She opened the door to find the Doctor on the other side.

He had the decency to be nervous. He was fidgety and since Avalon only stared at him, he had nothing else to go by.

And then suddenly, she slapped him. _Hard_.

"Yeah...I had that coming." The next time he met her gaze, she was blazing with fury. "Ava—"

She slapped him again. "I thought you were dead," her voice was trembling as was the rest of her body. "I thought...I didn't know what to think sometimes." The Doctor nodded silently, only listening to her for the first minutes. "I didn't know if you were still fighting the Silence or if they'd killed you...or if you'd just moved on."

"No," he spoke up as soon as she said that. "I would never be able to. I had to fight until every last Silent was gone."

Avalon stared at him with no readable expression. Her eyes were shiny but not one tear had fallen. Her frazzled brain was trying to make the connection she'd just heard. "They're gone?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Every last one of them. It took me 200 years but I got them. They're not going to hurt you or your family ever again."

Avalon swallowed hard. _They're gone._ Her mind raced with thoughts and a whirlwind of feelings. _They'regonethey'regone_. Her legs buckled.

The Doctor reached forwards to catch her as she collapsed. She fell against his chest and instead of pushing him away, she retreated into him. Her eyes squeezed shut.

"They're gone, they're really gone?" She sniffed.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her body. "Yes, I promise. I'm so sorry it took me this long. I know you must be angry with me."

Avalon pulled away suddenly, her eyes flickering to the TARDIS sitting in her front garden. She shook her head and pulled him inside. She had no idea what she was doing but for now, they needed to be inside. She made a conscious quick zip through the living room — there were _pictures_ in there that she wasn't ready to explain — into the kitchen.

"How did you find me?" she asked. She let go of his arm once they were in the kitchen.

"There was a sudden read of vortex energy," the Doctor said distractedly. He was studying the kitchen and found it to be quite normal. He always pictured Avalon living extravagantly. There was a white isle in the middle of the room with a matching white counter behind. Odd mugs lined the wall on the left side of the sink. He eyed some strange princess plates in the dish dryer.

"Vortex energy?" Avalon frowned. "I...I think I would've noticed if I suddenly leaked Vortex energy."

"Uh, the energy signatures were clear. It was brief and spontaneous but high enough for the TARDIS to sense it. She was adamant we come here." His eyes eventually found the papers on the isle. "You're writing," he smiled and met her gaze. "Do you write books now?"

Avalon's shake of head was nervous. "N-no."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. There was no reason to be nervous with him. If anything, she should be angry with him. That's what he prepared himself for when he caught the reading of the vortex. He knew it had to have been her so he gathered the courage to come find her. But she wasn't angry. She was just...like that.

"It's been nearly 250 years for me," she said quietly.

"I'm so sorry," he sighed. "I swear I didn't want anything like this to happen. I didn't want to leave you. I love you. I never wanted to hurt you."

Once more, instead of being reproached with anger, Avalon took it all with a few shaky nods. "I understand." Because she literally understood his reasoning. She'd done the same.

"Really?" The Doctor knew that he could take the easy win but something about Avalon's eerie calm attitude unsettled him. He took a few steps towards her until she was locked between him and the counter. He looked into her eyes, her sweet blue eyes that he'd missed so much, and searched for any clue of what she was hiding.

"Why did you come back?" she asked. She was aware of how close they were.

His hands moved to rest on either side of her on the counter. He leaned down enough so that when he answered, she would feel his breath. "Because you're my Ava." His words caused a ripple of warmth over her chest. "I had to at least try to win you back. Am I too late? Is there someone else?"

If she wasn't so shaken, she would've laughed in his face. How could there _ever_ be someone else? "I've been on my own."

"No," he said suddenly, pulling away from her to head for the sink.

Avalon blinked. "What?"

"You said you've been on your own but that's not true." He started pointing at the line of mugs and then the dishes in the sink. "There's too much stuff around for just one person. Someone else lives here..." He met Avalon's gaze, her _nervous_ gaze. "Don't they?"

~0~

Aurora walked down the street of her home. She was carrying a few books in her arms that she was trying to put away into her bookbag. She didn't need her mother finding out what she was doing. It would end with the grounding of a life time.

She was stuffing the last of her books into her bag when she came into her front garden and saw a bright blue box standing there. Her book fell to the ground.

She rushed up to the blue box and touched the _police sign_. "You wouldn't happen to be...?"

One of the doors creaked open. Aurora stepped back and watched as the other door opened _for her_. The soft orange glow slowly brought her in.

"O-oh..." She had stepped inside to see the console room. It was a bright orange, just like her mother had said. It was shiny with glass floors and those odd circles on the walls just like her mother had said.

Aurora swallowed down as she carefully made her way towards the console. Her hand gingerly brushed over the controls. "It's really you..." She breathed in.

Suddenly, a hum rose from the center. Aurora jumped back but after a few more hums she realized what it was.

"You're the TARDIS. You...you let me in," she glanced at the open doors. "Do you know who I am?" She remembered her mother saying the TARDIS could open and close her doors at her will. She chose who to let in, including the Doctor himself.

_Oh my God, the Doctor._

Aurora's eyes widened. "He's here," she whispered. She heard another hum. "Listen, I'm...I'm Aurora. You're my..." she languidly pointed at the time rotor, "...my grandmother. And-and the Doctor...he's my..."

The TARDIS hummed rather sadly. Aurora was sure that it was a sad hum. She always asked her mother how she knew what type of hums the TARDIS gave. Avalon would simply say that she just knew. Aurora would snort. Turns out her mother was right.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a song started playing. It took her only a second to realize what it was. She laughed.

"Very funny." She folded her arms as _Once Upon a Dream_ continued to play. "You should know that my favorite princess is Mulan." She smiled to herself as she started making a round on the console. "I too stood out." She stopped when she spotted a couple of things hanging out from a drawer underneath. She bent down and saw some miscellaneous things inside. A cellphone, a ball of yarn, a keychain, a magnifying glass and a stethoscope. She pulled out the stethoscope and played with it. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is, right?"

The TARDIS hummed dutifully.

Aurora smiled smugly. "Yeah, I ask questions even though I already know the answers. Does he do that too?" Yet another question she already knew the answer to.

~0~

He had no right to demand any answers from Avalon. He chose to leave which meant she had every right to move on. So why was he still standing in her kitchen when it was so clear that someone else lived with her now?

Avalon felt her tongue was literally twisted. She couldn't come out and say the truth even when he asked her directly...and more than once.

"Ava, if you want me to leave, I'll do it," the Doctor said, holding back his sigh. "I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to keep you safe." He ducked his head and left the room.

"Doctor, wait!" Avalon hurried after him. "I-I don't know how to say it—" She abruptly crashed into his back.

He'd felt a buzz in his pocket and pulled out his sonic to see it whirring alive. "What the...?" He checked the readings and soon knew what it was. He spun around to face Avalon. "Someone's in my TARDIS." He saw a visible trace of fear in her eyes. She knew. "Who's in my TARDIS?"

Avalon's eyes flickered to the clock on the wall. She gulped.

The Doctor didn't wait for her to answer. He turned away and hurried for the door.

"Doctor!" Avalon once again chased after him.

The Doctor flung the door open to run out and catch whoever was trying to mess with his TARDIS. He found a young girl with long ginger hair. She was of average height and wore a simple dark blue button up shirt with a brown cardigan and black jeans. Though her hair was in neat, casual waves, there was something oddly familiar about it. Her eyes were a nice green shade. Familiar too.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the girl, warranting some explanation of her presence and much more about her intrusion in the TARDIS. Instead of seeming nervous or even scared, she simply held out his stethoscope to him.

"She just let me in...like she knew even before..." she said, still sounding like she was in awe. Her expression certainly said she was.

"Aurora," Avalon breathed in. Tears were shining in her eyes.

"It's okay Mum," Aurora studied the Doctor's immediate reaction to her word. "I'm okay." Her hearts may be threatening to stop beating altogether but she was fine. Since the Doctor was frozen to his spot, she had to nod at him to take the stethoscope from her. When he still did nothing, her lips curved into a smirk. "Scared?"

It was like he was seeing Avalon in front of him. A challenger. He looked back at Avalon who couldn't string two words together. She brought her hand up to her mouth and cried behind it.

"Mum, it's okay," Aurora reiterated, offering her mother a kind smile. "I'm not upset. None of it is your fault." Her eyes locked with the Doctor again. "I want to talk to him, if that's alright...?"

The Doctor had no choice but to nod. Avalon turned away and hurried into the house. Aurora truly didn't seem fazed by her mother's behavior. She had come to terms with the reality of their situation a long time ago which left her plenty of time to plan for this moment.

"You are...?" the Doctor started when Aurora forced the stethoscope into his hand. She pushed her hair behind her shoulders and motioned him to use the stethoscope on her.

"You need to do that first," she ordered.

The Doctor silently did that. He put on the stethoscope and readied it, all in the meanwhile of holding Aurora's stare. He gingerly pressed the end of the stethoscope to her chest and heard one heartbeat. Strong and healthy.

Just as he was about to pull it away, she spoke up. "Your left."

He gave her a look but her eyes left no room for such discussion to be made. He moved the diaphragm to her left and heard the second heartbeat. She almost laughed at his reaction.

"Hi Dad," she said calmly instead, if only to see how he would react to that too.

"You're...?" He was essentially left without air. He looked her over from head to toe until he rested on her eyes once again. _His_ eyes.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're late." Her mother's words right out of her lips.

The Doctor swallowed hard as he yanked the stethoscope out of his ears. "You're my...you're..."

Aurora raised a hand to shake with his. "Aurora Leigh Reynolds," she introduced herself with a much less playful tone. "Though to the people in this area, it's Aurora Smith."

With a trembling hand, the Doctor took Aurora's to shake. As soon as their hands connected, he felt a jolt kickstart his entire system. _His daughter_. "You're my daughter," he said, heaving a heavy sigh. "I...how could I not know...?"

"Because Mum did a very good job of hiding me from the Silence," Aurora's knowledge about the order froze the Doctor. Her eyes flickered past him to the open door behind them. "Mum doesn't know that I know, but I wouldn't be her daughter — and _yours_ — if I didn't go searching for answers. She used to tell me that the reason we moved a lot was because she wanted to see cities. I believed her as a kid but then I started to realize that she didn't move because of her, she moved us because of _me_. I'm too much of a freak not to be noticed—"

That damn word continued to be a nuisance for the Ponds. It broke the Doctor's hearts on the spot to hear it come out of Aurora's lips to describe _herself_. _Avalon used to do it all the time_. "No, you're not. You're not a freak. You're..."

"Unique?" Aurora smiled sourly. "Yeah, I've heard that. Grandma River says that's what Mum and I are. But the point here is that it's because of me that Mum had to keep moving, had to always look over her shoulder to make sure nobody noticed me. She did a very good job, so much of a good job that she stopped living her life because of me."

The Doctor lowered his head. He knew exactly what Aurora meant. Avalon had prioritized Aurora — no doubt since the beginning — above anything else. _That's_ why she wasn't upset with him...because what he has done for Avalon, she'd done the for Aurora. She made the sacrifices she needed in order to keep Aurora safe.

Aurora watched him process everything she'd said and for a moment, she felt pity for him. He had to accept the fact that not only had he missed out on her life but he had to learn what her mother had done for her sake. "C'mon," she grabbed his hand and led him inside the house. She couldn't ignore the warmth of his hand in hers. She had always wondered what it would be like to hold her father's hand and get a hug from him. She felt ridiculous now that she remembered that as a child she used to wonder what it would be like if he spun her around like a princess.

"Au...Aurora," the Doctor said once they were inside the living room. Aurora turned around and watched him test her name out in his lips. "Aurora Leigh...it's a beautiful name," he smiled at her.

Aurora didn't know what to do with herself in that moment. She folded her arms over her chest but it resembled more like she was trying to hug herself. "Aurora because of, you know...princess...but do you know what 'Leigh' means?"

"Uh, no, I don't..."

"In Celtic it means ' _healer_ '..." Aurora lowered her gaze, "Healer as in...doctor. She named me after you."

Warmth blossomed in his chest. "No," he said suddenly, making her gaze rise again. "Your name is a blend of your mother and I. Aurora is for Avalon. It was the first story she told me of when she was a child. It was the story that brought us together when she was grown up. That story followed us to our last day together."

Something flickered across Aurora's eyes. It was almost like fascination, a deep _awe_ that she just learned something new about her parents and it was her _father_ who shared that knowledge. "I never thought of that. I just thought 'princess' and..." She shook her head and tucked some of her hair behind her ears. She took her book bag off and tossed it to the couch.

"Are you...?" The Doctor presumed. He wanted to know everything about her in that moment. How old was she? What did she like to eat? Did she like milkshakes like her mother? Did she hate pears like him? There were so many questions he had no idea where to begin.

"I'm glad you found me," she suddenly said, flashing him a smile when he blinked.

"What?"

"Time Vortex?" She raised her hand and allowed it to glow gold for a few seconds. "I've been trying to, um, make something. Mum said you always carried this little, um..."

The Doctor quickly pulled out his sonic screwdriver for her to see. As soon as she laid eyes on it, she beamed. His hearts warmed. "You were trying to make one?"

She nodded, almost looking mesmerized by the sonic. "Yeah, um...with some modifications. I like building things. I thought maybe I could make something similar to it but infuse it with my own energy. At the very least I could use it to draw you in...if you were still alive."

"Oh, Aurora, that could've been very dangerous."

"Which is exactly why I didn't tell Mum. I told you that I know everything and I had enough. I'm almost going to be an adult and it's time Mum got some of her life back."

"How old are you?"

"250."

The Doctor scoffed. "Hardly an adult. You're a teenager."

"I _am_ an adult!" she stomped her foot. The Doctor smirked. She rolled her eyes. "It's not the point. I realized Mum gave up her life for me. She hasn't done anything except look after me and make sure that nobody realized I was here."

"Yeah, I can imagine she did," the Doctor nodded. "Because it's what I would've done too."

"But I don't want her to keep doing that. She doesn't have friends because of me. She doesn't go out and I _know_ that she loved going out. Even her job...it's not what she wants. I know that she could write the best selling books out there but because it would draw attention to us, she doesn't do it. She doesn't visit Earth, she hardly sees my great grandparents. She doesn't travel at all. Dad..." She lowered her gaze almost fearfully, like she was waiting for the Doctor to scold her for the use of that word, "I need help. I need _you_."

The Doctor exhaled deeply. "I would do anything for you," the words fell out out of his mouth.

Aurora raised her gaze with shiny eyes. "Really?" Her voice shook. "You don't even know me."

"Your my daughter," he took a few steps towards her. "You're me, you're Avalon...you're ours. You don't understand how much I already love you." Aurora could barely swallow the lump in her throat. "And you have no idea how _sorry_ I am for not being here with you."

Aurora felt like she was unraveling into her child self. Everything that could've been she was imagining. "I, uh, I used to wish that you were here so we could play. I loved playing princess."

The Doctor smiled softly. "Oh, I bet you did. _Aurora_?"

"Actually, I like Mulan. I like the swords," she bit her lip as a laugh threatened to slip out. "Plus, a cool talking dragon. I want one for a pet, actually."

The Doctor did laugh though. "That's more of your mother peeking out."

"Grandma Amy said the same thing." Aurora licked her lips nervously as she prepared to make her next question. "Are you...are you going to stay now? With Mum and I?" She searched his face for any clue of what his answer would be. "Please don't leave," she said quickly. "I-I don't want you to leave us, _please_!" She threw her arms around him and sniffled.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her tightly. A fierce protectiveness flourished within him. Nothing would ever hurt her, not even him. He loved her to the moon and back. "Hey, hey, hey," he ran his hands through her hair. It really was like he was holding another version of Avalon. This was one was a young, more scared version but with stars in her eyes and an obvious glint of mischief. "I'm here, sweetheart. No matter what happens, I'm not leaving you again." He kissed the top of her head. "Your my princess."

Aurora's tear-stained face formed a smile. "Mum used to say that when I was a kid. She wasn't your princess anymore, I was."

The Doctor chuckled. "Yeah? I think she may have been right."

"Then I told her that she was your Queen instead."

"Above and beyond."

Aurora raised her head to meet her father's gaze. The same eyes stared at each other. "I love you, Dad. I've never been able to say that."

"I love you too, princess," he kissed her forehead. "Now I have to go speak with your Mum."

She nodded. "Yeah, okay." He let her go and headed for the hallway, only stopping when Aurora called after him. "If Mum says that she's okay, don't believe her. She's been by herself ever since you left."

The Doctor assured her that he wouldn't believe Avalon's lies. He continued on his way, stopping by the door that had quiet sniffles on the other side. He knocked gently against the door and opened it slightly.

Avalon was sitting on the side of her bed with her back to him. She obviously heard him come in but she didn't look back. "I was so scared when you left," she started. "I didn't know if the Silence was going to hurt you. But then I realized I was pregnant and I was _terrified_."

"I'm sorry, I should have...I should have talked to you about the possibilities..."

"I didn't know what I was going to do," she looked over her shoulder, revealing her reddened eyes. Her face shined with tears. "But then she was born," she whispered, "And suddenly I couldn't think of anything that wasn't her. I missed you and I loved you but I chose her in a heartbeat. I chose to forget about ever seeing you again to focus on keeping her safe."

"You did nothing wrong, Avalon," the Doctor walked over to her. "You did what a Mother always does. You cared for your child and you kept her safe. How could I blame you for that?"

Avalon turned her body around so that she could face him. "But I never forgot about you. Not a day passed by where I didn't wonder if you were alive. I never forgot about you, Fairy Tale Man."

"I always thought about you too, Ava," the Doctor smiled at her. "I'm so sorry for leaving you. I'm sorry for leaving you on your own with Aurora. If I had known about her—"

"How could you have?" she cut him off with a sad smile. "I did everything I could to keep her hidden. I didn't want the Silence coming after her."

"You protected her," he cupped her face and cleared as many tears as he could off her face. "I wish I could've been here though. I missed out on a lot by the looks of it."

"She's just like you," she chuckled through her tears.

"Yeah," he laughed with her. "I saw some of that."

"She invents things. She's been inventing things since she was a kid."

"Guilty as charged."

Avalon slid off the bed and moved towards the dresser against the wall. The Doctor followed her and watched her go through some of the picture frames sitting on top of the dresser. Finally, she picked one up and showed it to him.

Aurora was a child who couldn't seem to grin more than she already was. The Doctor laughed when he saw one of her teeth was missing. Her orange hair was in pigtails but some of it was sticking out like she'd been working on something. That 'something' had to be the small device in her hands that she was showing proudly to the camera.

"She was 6 right here and she somehow invented a weather predictor. Who needs weathermen when you have Aurora Leigh Reynolds?" Avalon mused. "She's built all types of things. I dare say she got a stronger bite of the inventing bug than you did."

The Doctor started looking at the rest of the frames. He was sure that they chronicled some of Aurora's best moments. There was one of Avalon and a younger Aurora, probably when she was around 4, at a lakeside.

"You hate camping," he remembered.

Avalon hummed. "But Aurora doesn't. She likes looking at the stars and with all the lights in the city it's impossible. We go camping once a year."

"Really?" The Doctor smiled warmly. "These all look amazing. You've done a good job with her."

Avalon carefully placed her frame back on the dresser. "But it's not enough anymore. There are some things I just can't figure out. She thinks like me but with your intelligence. She's a lot quicker than the other kids her age and sometimes it brings her unwanted attention. I know her. I know my daughter and I know that she doesn't want to live here anymore. She wants to go exploring. River takes her out sometimes."

"She sees things that others don't." The Doctor felt like he was visiting Avalon's file all over again. "The pace here isn't enough for her. There's not enough stimulation."

Avalon nodded. "She's talked about some university here but I know that the only reason she wants to go here is because she doesn't want to leave me. I've instilled the idea that we should always remain together and as much as I love that, knowing that the Silence is gone, I don't have keep her here anymore. She's free."

"As are you." The Doctor curled his hand around hers, watching her cautiously for any negative reaction she could give. He needed to test to what extent he was allowed to touch her. So far, he was only subjected to her long stare. "You've done an amazing with Aurora, she absolutely loves you, and she never wants to leave you alone. _I_ don't want to leave you so—" he nervously licked his lips, "—if you still have any lingering feelings for me...I'd like to be with you." He heard Avalon's quiet gasp but he was unsure what type of gasp it was. Would she send him away? Tell him that he'd lost his chance? Or would she agree?

"Aurora..." She said first, making him smile. "She wants you in her life. She's always dreamt about meeting you and travelling with you..."

"I'd love nothing more than to do that with her," he nodded. "Regardless of your decision, I'd like to be a part of my daughter's life. If you decide that you don't want anything to do with me, it won't affect anything with Aurora. But if you decide that you _do_ want me around..."

"Would you stay here with us?" she asked suddenly. "Would you stay here with us and live...here?" she made a weak gesture to the house.

"Without a doubt," he answered on the spot. He allowed her to search him for any trace of that doubt he swore didn't exist. She wouldn't find it.

"You would do that?" she asked in disbelief. She pulled her hand out of his and moved around the room. "You would do the house, the-the getting up early to take Aurora to school, the grocery shopping, the laundry, the—"

"I'd do it _all_ , Avalon, if it meant I got to stay with you."

Avalon turned around and met his gaze. She swallowed hard. She'd forgotten the way his long gazes made her feel. She'd forgotten what it felt like to have someone want to _be_ with her. _Together_. Her eyes ultimately looked away from the Doctor when a river streamed from them.

"Avalon..." the Doctor felt utterly helpless watching her slowly break into sobs.

"Please come hold me," she managed to say before the sobs took her over. "I-I—" The Doctor was already by her side before she could say more. He held her as tightly as possible but it paled in comparison to Avalon's death grip she had on him. "I don't want you to leave me again. I love you. Being with you and travelling together was my life — it was when I was the happiest. I want to come back and be with you. I want to visit places, get into trouble with you, run together."

"I want that too," he whispered.

She pulled herself away enough to look up at him. "Most importantly, I want to wake up and go to sleep at your side. I want to make milkshakes with you, bicker with you, read stories together..." Her hands found their way up to his face, fingers delicately stroking his skin. "I want to be your Ava again."

The Doctor lowered his head, his words coming out in a whisper, "I want to be your Fairy Tale Man again too."

She smiled at him through her tears. She watched him come closer until there was no space between them. Their lips reconnected for the first time in two centuries and yet it felt like no time had passed them by. They remembered every last detail about each other, from the way their fingers felt on each other's skin to the perfect angle they favored as they deepened their kiss. Everything stayed exactly the same.

Avalon parted slightly to speak, but when she did their lips would brush over each other's. "We shouldn't get carried away," she said specifically for the trailing fingers she felt under the hem of her blouse.

She felt the Doctor's smug smile against her lips. "Right," he pulled his fingers out from under her shirt to place them on her waist. "Wouldn't want to come up with a little sibling for Aurora right now."

Avalon instantly shoved him on the chest but he just laughed. "That's not funny," she said. "You know she knows about the Sapling? They've met and all and somehow they were convinced that one day, they'd have a little brother to be a trio."

" _Oh_ ," the Doctor grinned.

"Stop it!" she warned him before he said anything else. "You should also know that the only reason they planned that is to overpower us...in a _heist_."

The Doctor's face lit up at the word. "A heist? Against our own children? That's cold...and also strangely exciting."

"Aurora's always wanted to heist with you," Avalon sighed. "She's always had all this list of things she wished she could do with you."

"Well, I think it's about time I make some of those things happen. What do you say, Ava?"

Avalon suddenly grabbed his head and kissed him fervently. "Take me away," she managed to say in-between kisses.

The Doctor was quick to respond to such hungry kisses, but he also found time to slip out some words. "Where to?"

"Neverland."

The Doctor pulled away to meet her gaze, letting their breathless mouths fall into laughter.

~ 0 ~

Aurora was pacing back and forth in the living room when she heard her mother's bedroom door opening. Her wide eyes watched her parents emerge from the hallway and the first thing she noticed were their interlocked hands. Her hearts skipped a few beats.

Avalon met her eyes once they stood across from her. "We'll have to pack one more time."

The grin that spread across Aurora's face was from ear to ear. Aurora laughed and ran towards them. She was encased in a tight hug. "We're actually leaving? To the TARDIS?" She looked up to meet their gazes. "To-to be a family?"

"And to travel," the Doctor touched Aurora's cheek. "And learn. You're not done with school—"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "But I know more than everyone does!"

"See?" Avalon glanced at the Doctor while she gestured to Aurora. " _Your_ daughter."

But all the Doctor did was smile proudly. "Yes she is." Aurora beamed at him. "And she's going to be phenomenal."

"Feed the ego," Avalon sighed. "That's also yours."

The Doctor did not care at all. He just held her and Aurora together, as tightly as possible, while he wondered where-oh-where he would bring his princess and queen first.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I had so much fun writing this one-shot! I might revisit the idea later on!

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	6. The Builders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While her mother is asleep, Aurora gets to have some bonding time with her father. The Doctor is amazed to see his daughter's work.  
> P.S Aurora’s face claim is Kennedy McMann!

Things were mostly quiet in the TARDIS. The Doctor expected it to be that way even though he had finally taken Avalon and Aurora away in the TARDIS. His girls were actually going to live with him from now on. He had so many plans for them and he couldn't wait to get started...but first they needed to rest. Avalon needed to sleep. Though she didn't sleep as much as an average human would, she still needed sleep at times. So, as much as it pained him to keep waiting, the Doctor let her rest. Aurora disappeared in her new room too...

Or so he thought.

He'd heard a spark from the console and since he wasn't around to cause it, he practically dashed into the room. "Where's the fire, dear!? Where's the fire!?" Instead of getting a usual hum from the TARDIS, Aurora popped up from the other side of the console. Her green eyes were wide as could be - she was a deer caught in headlights. Nothing like her mother in that aspect. Avalon never cared if she got caught, the Doctor always had too much fun to get caught up in 'getting caught' but Aurora...she was quite different in that aspect.

"Hi Dad..." she greeted all too innocently. "I wasn't messing with the console. I definitely wasn't trying to see what the knobs did..."

"Aurora! What are—" he sputtered, "Didn't you—weren't you supposed to be asleep!?"

Aurora scratched behind her ear. "Not really."

"What!?"

"I just...I knew if I didn't say I was sleepy then Mum wouldn't have gone to sleep either."

"So you just _lied_!?"

"No, I just...agreed with her," Aurora smirked. _That_ was all Avalon.

It actually scared the Doctor how similar the smirks were but at the same time it warmed his hearts to see a little copy of his Ava. He couldn't wait to see more moments like these.

"Oh don't be mad with me, Dad," Aurora sighed and started coming around the console. "And don't tell Mum either. I don't really sleep that much. I actually sleep _less_ than Mum."

"Makes sense since you are _my_ daughter," the Doctor came up the steps to join her. "Avalon relatively sleeps about 3 or 4 days a week."

"I don't need it," Aurora shrugged. "I've gone on two days sometimes. But Mum doesn't really know about that — I think it'd make her feel bad that I'm up in the nights while she physically can't be."

"That would sound like her," the Doctor agreed with a nod of his head. "So...what do you do during those nights?"

Aurora hummed. "Lots of things! I go sneaking out to meet boys, of course!"

" _What_!?" The Doctor's hand came flinging to his chest. He actually felt like a heart attack was coming. A true, proper one. Aurora burst into laughter. "You're not dating anyone until you're 5000 years old!"

" _You're_ not even 5000 years old!"

"Well, then that means there's still a long time to wait!"

Aurora rolled her eyes, attempting to look as irritated as she sounded, but the truth is she was ecstatic to have a conversation like this. She was finally with her father and even when he pulled stuff like this, she would never be bothered.

"You can't go pushing buttons like that, dear," the Doctor said and it earned himself a deep scoff. Aurora shot him a look for him to re-evualute his words. Eventually, the Doctor smirked. "Yeah, alright."

Aurora giggled. "When I was a kid, like 3 years old, I was staying with grandma Amy and grandpa Rory. I found the button for the disposal in the sink." The look on her face promised the Doctor there was a good ending to come. "I took it as a _'How much is **too** much?'_ and my answer was 3 apples, 2 hair scrunchies and one dishrag."

"You did not..." the Doctor struggled incredibly hard to keep his laughter at bay. He could already imagine the Ponds' reactions finding the littlest Pond experimenting with their kitchen sink.

Aurora smirked. "I did. I realized that human sink disposals are _far_ too weak. I had to upgrade it...but Mum said I wasn't allowed to. Something about being 3 years old..." The Doctor looked at her for the longest time. Aurora would've taken it had it not been for the story she had just told. "Are you mad too?"

"No..." He admitted. "But don't tell your mother."

Aurora laughed and sprinted up to him for a hug. The Doctor welcomed it with tight arms. They both suspected that it would be like this for a long time. Centuries of missing out on each other's lives did that.

"I'm really glad that you're here now," Aurora murmured. "There's so many things I've always wanted to do with you."

"Well...we're together now, and your mother _is_ going to be sleeping for a few more hours..." the Doctor untangled his arms from his daughter to look at her, "What's first on that list?"

Aurora beamed at the prospect. "Can we finish my sonic screwdriver? Mum doesn't know about it and I get the feeling she'd be the same type of mad whether it was finish or not. I'd rather be in trouble with a finished sonic than an unfinished one."

The Doctor chuckled. "Your thought logic is...interesting."

Aurora grinned. "So is that a yes?"

"For my daughter? How could I say 'no'?"

Aurora cheered and threw her arms around her father. "You're the best!"

How easily those words came out of her mouth when she barely knew him. It warmed the Doctor's hearts to know that even when he was gone, Avalon never spoke ill of him to their daughter.

~0~

Aurora had of course brought along her unfinished screwdriver, cleverly hidden amongst her boxes so Avalon wouldn't find it. The Doctor wouldn't say it out loud but he was impressed with how cleverly it was done. He was never able to hide anything from Avalon for long.

The Doctor had brought them to his old workshop where they would have everything to work with. Aurora had already, just like her mother had the first time she walked in, remarked about the messy state of the room.

" _Critics, the both of you_ ," the Doctor had responded with, making her laugh.

"This is what I have so far," Aurora timidly placed her work on the table. She stepped back so that the Doctor could examine what she'd built so far.

"It's amazing how similar the mechanics are to my previous sonics," he remarked.

"I-I may have asked your friend, Sarah Jane, to see hers for a bit. She didn't really know what I was doing."

"You did this from the memory of a quick inspection of another sonic?" The Doctor turned around.

Aurora nodded her head slowly. She was practically holding her breath waiting to hear what he would say. Would he be disappointed? Had she missed something? She'd tried her best to remember but it really had been a long time since she saw Sarah Jane.

"Well done, princess!" the Doctor exclaimed.

Aurora's face lit up. "Really? You like it?"

"Of course! This is great work and you did this without the usual tools you need. You're naturally intelligent."

Aurora's face might as well be a Christmas tree. "You really mean that?"

The Doctor nodded. "Of course! We just need to add a couple things to it."

"Yeah! What kind of things!?" Aurora scurried beside him, eager to learn what ideas he had in mind.

"You said like building things, right?"

"Mhm, I have so many unfinished projects in my boxes...if you want to take a look at them later on...?" Aurora nervously smiled at him.

The Doctor softly smiled down at her. "I would love to." He put an arm around her shoulders and gestured to the sonic on the table. "Since you like building things, we could make that a primary function for your sonic. Maybe we can even make it functional for wood."

Aurora giggled. "Mum says it's stupid that your high-tech sonic doesn't do wood."

"Yeah, and I told her not to diss it," the Doctor grumbled.

"Can we really make it work for wood?"

"Of course we can. We're the best team! Let's get to work!"

The Doctor started gathering some of the usual tools and, regretfully, had to tear into what Aurora already had done. "It's just to connect a few wires," he told Aurora when she started pouting. He didn't want her to think her work wasn't good enough because it _was_ _._ He was amazed with her work and the fact she had done it all on her own was even more impressive. It reminded him of his young days locked in a workshop with endless plans.

Aurora was up and ready to bring along whatever her father needed. She was ecstatic to be working with him. It wasn't like anything she could've imagined. He was a rambler and sometimes he mind of lost her. She tried to follow along as much as she could but now she could really understand her mother when she said the Doctor talked nonsense. It was funny nonsense but nonsense nonetheless.

"Dad, what _are_ you talking about?" she decided to interject once the rambling had gone somewhere banana-related. "I don't want bananas in my sonic!"

The Doctor laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. These wires are getting crossed and _I'm_ going bananas!"

" _Oh_ ," Aurora scratched the side of her head. "Can I try?"

"Of course," the Doctor pulled off his goggles, the same ones that Aurora had made fun of as soon as she found them "But you have to put these on."

Aurora grumbled. "This is payback, isn't it?"

"No..." the Doctor promptly put them on her and barely held his laughter in when he got a good look at her. "What do you know? They do make you look like a bug."

" _Dad!_ " she cried.

"Alright, alright, have at it," he stepped aside so she could see the wires. "We need to carefully twist the wires so they'll connect at the end right..." he tried pointing to the itty-bitty hole at the end of the sonic, "...there."

"Easy peasy," Aurora declared. She grabbed clippers and lowered them to the wires.

"Take it slowly," her father warned. "Can't tell you how many times I burned my fingers."

"You don't have to tell me, I can see it."

The Doctor huffed. "Oh, you're a funny one!"

Aurora bared a cheeky smile. "I am, aren't I?"

"Do the wires!"

Aurora giggled but started to focus on the task. The last thing she wanted to do was to ruin her own sonic. "I have to twist..."

"Slowly," the Doctor warned again.

"Mhm," Aurora's tongue stuck out between her teeth the more focused she got. She carefully twisted the wires as her father instructed. She could see the tiny hole and she was proud to say the wires might just fit in.

"You have to hear the click of the wires before you let go," the Doctor said once the wires were close to the hole.

"Got it," Aurora promised. She neared the wires and paid absolute attention. Being so silent had never been her thing. She didn't even know she was capable of it.

And then she heard the _click_.

"Click?" Aurora's eyes widened, though they were covered by the big goggles over her face. " _Click_! I did it! Dad, I did it!"

The Doctor couldn't be more proud of his daughter. "You did!"

Aurora dropped the tool with the biggest grin on her face. "I did it!" She pulled off her goggles and chucked them to the table then hugged her father.

"I'm so proud of you, Aurora!" the Doctor hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "My girl's a genius!"

Aurora laughed. "Dad, I just plugged in wires. Not exactly a genius moment."

"Nonsense!" The Doctor set her down and gestured to the nearly finished sonic. "This takes genius to build and you had a lot built before I got to it."

Suddenly, they heard the open. Avalon, a very sleepy version of her, walked into the room. "What the hell is going on with this all noise?"

Aurora's face went into full panic when her mother spotted the almost finished sonic between her and her father. "M-morning Mum..."

"My sweet Ava—" the Doctor started but Avalon zipped him with a wave of her hand.

"Don't even try it, Fairy Tale Man," she took in a deep breath before adding, "You know, one good thing about having you around now is I no longer have to pretend that I don't know my daughter is building things behind my back." Aurora squeaked with the revelation. "Now I can sleep peacefully knowing she won't blow herself up..." Of course then a new thought popped into Avalon's head. "Or maybe I should be more concerned that you _two_ might blow yourselves up..." She sighed heavily. "You're both going to kill me."

"Mum, I'm making a sonic screwdriver!" Aurora exclaimed.

Avalon's face fell flat as her eyes landed on the Doctor. He nervously smiled at her. "If she regenerates, I'm going to kill you." She reached for the door and closed it behind her when she left.

"That was her ' _go for it!_ '," the Doctor clapped his hands together.

Aurora laughed at him. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah, and she was even nice this time. I guess having you around is a safety measure for me," he smirked.

" _Dad_."

"Just saying. So, shall we finish this?" He turned to the table where the sonic awaited them.

Aurora nodded. "Oh yeah. Let's do this!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I thought there needed to be at least a moment between these two to really finish the series xD. And when I say "finish" i mean the term very loosely because I might add more parts who knows.

 **P.S**. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **saiilorstars** "


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